Some Danes are California dreaming and even wanted to rename Disneyland to “Hans Christian Andersenland” as they come up with an idea to buy California from the United States, which is some sort of pushback to US President Donald Trump’s threat to buy Greenland. This 2013 photo shows guests attend the Ahsoka fan event at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on August 17, 2023. | Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Disney/AFP
COPENHAGEN, Denmark —In the wake of US President Donald Trump’s threats to take control of Greenland, some Danes are California dreaming, offering to buy the golden state and infuse it with a Nordic vibe and universal health care.
A satirical website has launched a petition for Denmark to buy America’s most populous state, with more than 200,000 people signing up to the idea so far.
Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
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Mocking Trump’s favourite slogan, the tongue-in-cheek petition urges Denmark to “Måke Califørnia Great Ægain”, rewriting the phrase with letters from the Danish alphabet.
“Let’s buy California from Donald Trump!” the site Denmarkification.com says, in a nod to “Californication”, a word the Red Hot Chili Peppers band immortalised with its 1990s hit song.
“Let’s be honest — Trump isn’t exactly California’s biggest fan. He’s called it ‘the most ruined state in the Union’ and has feuded with its leaders for years.”
“We’re pretty sure he’d be willing to part with it for the right price,” it says.
“We’ll send our bestest negotiators — Lego executives and the cast of Borgen,” it mused, referring to the Denmark-based global toy behemoth and the Danish-produced drama series.
“We’ll bring hygge to Hollywood, bike lanes to Beverly Hills, and organic smørrebrød to every street corner. Rule of law, universal health care and fact based politics might apply.”
“Hygge” is a word in Danish that describes a cozy atmosphere while “smorrebrod” is a multi-ingredient sandwich ubiquitous in the Nordic country and its neighbours.
Why would the Scandinavian country want the US state? For its sunny climate, tech industry and wealth of avocados, the site says.
And of course Disneyland, which it proposes renaming “Hans Christian Andersenland”, in reference to Denmark’s famed fairy tale writer.
“Mickey Mouse in a Viking helmet? Yes, please.”
‘Absurd’
Whether Americans would want to offload the state is not much of a concern.
“Let’s face it -– when has that ever stopped him? If Trump wants to sell California, he’ll sell California.”
On Wednesday at 16:45 am (1545 GMT), almost 218,000 people had signed the petition, which aims to gather 500,000 signatures.
The idea behind the campaign was “simply to show just how totally absurd Trump’s plans for Greenland are,” the French-Swiss creator of the petition, Xavier Dutoit, told AFP.
“My offer to President Trump is the following: if he stops this neo-colonial madness, I’ll end the campaign.”
Most of those visiting the website in the past 24 hours were Americans, Danes and Dutch, he said.
Since late December, Trump has repeatedly reiterated his desire to take over Greenland, the vast Arctic island rich in natural resources.
Greenland’s leaders, backed by the Danish government, have insisted it is not for sale.
Local Greenland elections are scheduled for March 11. Amid concern over possible election interference, the Greenlandic parliament last week adopted a law banning anonymous or foreign donations to political parties.