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Claim of Denmark's interest in buying US is stolen satire | Fact check
The claim: Denmark announced interest in buying US after Trump floated idea of purchasing Greenland
A Dec. 25 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims to share Denmark's response to President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that the U.S. should acquire Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
"After rebuffing Donald J. Trump's hypothetical proposal to purchase Greenland, the government of Denmark has announced that it would be interested in buying the United States instead," reads the post.
The post includes a supposed quote from a spokesperson for Denmark that reads, "We believe that, by giving the U.S. an educational system and national health care, it could be transformed from a vast land mass into a great nation."
It was shared more than 200 times in two days. A similar post circulated on Threads.
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Our rating: False
Denmark didn't make such an announcement. The passages in the post come from a satirical New Yorker article published in 2019 when Trump first floated the idea of purchasing Greenland.
Social media users post satirical news about Trump, Greenland as real
Trump suggested in December that the U.S. acquire Greenland for its strategic value to the U.S., reviving an idea he raised in 2019 during his first presidential term.
"For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity," Trump said in a Dec. 22 Truth Social post announcing his pick for U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Ken Howery.
While Greenland's prime minister, Mute Egede, said the Arctic island is not for sale, the Danish government did not respond to Trump's most recent suggestion by cheekily expressing interest in buying the U.S. The passages in the Facebook post come from a satirical news article published in 2019 by The New Yorker.
The article, written by Andy Borowitz, is labeled as "Satire from The Borowitz Report" and includes the supposed quote from the Danish government official seen in the post. The article also begins with the passage about Denmark's purported announcement that it "would be interested in buying" the U.S.
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The Facebook post does not indicate the passages' origin or their satirical nature. A similar Threads post that includes a different quote from the same New Yorker piece also does not mention the text's satirical origins.
The social media posts are an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where posts created as satire and presented that way originally are reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate news. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.USA TODAY has debunked an array of stolen satire claims tied to Trump, including false assertions that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas announced he would retire on Jan. 21, 2025, that Jimmy Kimmel announced his show would end on the day of Trump’s inauguration and that Kash Patel’s dad said his son was a childhood friend of Vivek Ramaswamy.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources
The New Yorker, Aug. 16, 2019, Denmark Offers to Buy U.S.
The New Yorker (archived), Nov. 6, 2020, Denmark Offers to Buy U.S.
USA TODAY, Dec. 25, Greenland is a no, but what territories has the U.S. purchased?
USA TODAY, Aug. 19, 2019, Danish Prime Minister says discussion of Greenland sale is 'absurd'
Donald Trump, Dec. 22, Truth Social post
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Denmark response to Trump Greenland bid is stolen satire | Fact check