Lauder suggested trump take Greenland
Executive summary
Reporting from multiple outlets — grounded in John Bolton’s account and subsequent investigations — establishes that Ronald Lauder, the Estée Lauder heir and longtime Trump acquaintance, suggested in 2018 that the United States consider buying Greenland and offered to act as a back channel to Denmark, a suggestion that sparked White House interest and later policy-level follow-ups [1] [2] [3].
1. How the claim originated: Bolton’s Oval Office memory
The clearest public source for the suggestion is former national security adviser John Bolton, who recounts that in late 2018 President Trump told him “a prominent businessman had just suggested the US buy Greenland,” and Bolton later identified that businessman as Ronald Lauder — an account reported by The Guardian and echoed across outlets [1] [4].
2. Lauder’s specific role as intermediary and pitch
Reporting indicates Lauder did more than casually float an idea: he reportedly offered to serve as a back channel to the Danish government to facilitate negotiations and even volunteered to go to Greenland himself to advance the proposal, according to contemporaneous reporting in the New York Times and summaries in Mother Jones and Wikipedia [2] [3].
3. What the White House actually did with the suggestion
Trump tasked staff to study options after the suggestion — Bolton says he assembled a team and directed aides to look into the feasibility of acquisition, which led to secret discussions with Denmark’s ambassador and internal reports on strategic scenarios for Greenland during 2018–2019 [3] [5].
4. Motives, follow-on investments, and conflict-of-interest concerns
Investigations and reporting since then show Lauder later acquired commercial stakes in Greenlandic projects and has publicly advocated U.S. involvement in the island’s economy, prompting analysts to question whether his 2018 pitch served private investment interests as much as strategic ones [6] [7] [8].
5. Trump’s messaging and ownership of the idea
While several accounts attribute the original seed to Lauder, Trump has at times claimed credit for the Greenland idea himself and used it politically; reporting notes that by 2019 the president framed the purchase as his own inspiration even though friends like Lauder had earlier raised it [2] [5].
6. Reactions from Denmark, Greenland and others
Public and official reactions at the time underlined the implausibility and diplomatic sensitivity of any purchase: Danish and Greenlandic leaders uniformly rejected a sale in 2019, and the notion created a diplomatic rift that was widely reported, though the sources in this packet emphasize the origin of the idea rather than the full diplomatic aftermath [3].
7. Limits of the evidence and alternative readings
The reportage rests heavily on Bolton’s recollection and newsroom reconstructions; Lauder has not publicly detailed his private conversations about 2018 and did not respond to some inquiries, so while multiple outlets corroborate the basic claim that Lauder suggested buying Greenland and offered to help, motive and intent remain partly inferential and contested by those who view Lauder’s subsequent investments as either opportunistic or routine commercial activity [2] [6] [7].