One day during his first term, Donald Trump summoned a top aide to discuss a new idea. “Trump called me down to the Oval Office,” John Bolton, national security adviser in 2018, told the Guardian. “He said a prominent businessman had just suggested the US buy Greenland.”

It was an extraordinary proposal. And it originated from a longtime friend of the president who would go on to acquire business interests in the Danish territory.

The businessman, Bolton learned, was Ronald Lauder. Heir to a makeup fortune – the global cosmetics brand Estée Lauder – he had known Trump, a fellow wealthy New Yorker, for more than 60 years.

Bolton said he discussed the Greenland proposition with Lauder. After the billionaire’s intervention, a White House team began to explore ways to increase US sway in the vast Arctic territory controlled by Denmark.

Trump’s renewed pursuit of Lauder’s idea during his second term is typical of how the president operates, Bolton said. “Bits of information that he hears from friends, he takes them as truth and you can’t shake his opinion.”

  • Akasazh@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    These are the brands he owns, so you might avoid buying them:

    Cosmetics

    AERIN Beauty
    Bobbi Brown
    Clinique
    DECIEM by Brandon Truaxe
    Dr. Jart+
    Estée Lauder
    GLAMGLOW
    La Mer
    Lab Series
    MAC Cosmetics
    Origins
    Darphin Paris
    Smashbox
    Too Faced[42]
    Tom Ford Beauty
    
    Fragrance
    
    Aramis
    Kilian Paris
    Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle
    Jo Malone London
    Le Labo
    

    Haircare

    Aveda
    Bumble and bumble
    
  • radio@sh.itjust.works
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    23 hours ago

    I knew someone planted the seed in his head to invade. Trump is too dumb and vacuous to have curiosity about somewhere as random as Greenland. A couple mega wealthy nepo babies bonding over their rapacious greed. How cute!

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      22 hours ago

      He’s also the kind of Dump Ape that is so avaricious that he looks at a map, and says “That’s big, I want it.” And I have heard multiple reports that is pretty much how it happened. Everything else is just rationalization. Also, Bolton is as much a scumbag as Trump.

      Also Ghengis Don doesn’t know what a Mercator Projection is, and if he’d heard of it, he wouldn’t understand it. But, for reals, he’s never heard of it.

  • slothrop@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    Lauder: You don’t have a micropenis. Can you invade Greenland?

    The Rapist: Say it once more and Greenscape is yours.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      A ghoul who will suffer no consequences, because while Europe is sending parade units to flex on the beaches of Qeqertarsuaq this asshole is allowed to continue operating Estée Lauder across the continent.

      If he were Russian, he’d be drowning under sanctions right now. Instead, the guy gets to bait the US into the worst Intra-NATO conflict since Cyprus and pocket a windfall no questions asked.

  • Elextra@literature.cafe
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    1 day ago

    Think it’s also a way to get rich. My husband told me military and defense related stocks went up (he’s tracking politician trading)

    I haven’t followed myself but can believe that.

  • DaMummy@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I wouldn’t take the word of John Bolton as worth anything more than toilet paper. I think the Peter Thiel connection to Greenland is much more worth discussion, and it’s the main reason why Vance is VP.

      • DaMummy@lemmy.world
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        24 hours ago

        Normally true, but again, John Bolton. I’d probably trust him on mustache upkeep though.

            • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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              22 hours ago

              I know he’s a right-wing asshole. But seriously, what would be his motive for lying about something like this? What would he gain? Maybe there’s an angle I hadn’t considered.

              • DaMummy@lemmy.world
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                22 hours ago

                I can’t read his mind. As he said, coups aren’t easy. He puts the term “right wing asshole” to shame. He’s so bad, I’m surprised he doesn’t have a Nobel Peace Prize.

  • zd9@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Wow I wasn’t aware of this angle. I was assuming it was all just technofascist acquisitions for Praxis, and the whole cult of Curtis Yarvin’s network state monarchy CEO idea (Peter Thiel who owns JD “Just Dance” Vance).