President Trump Said About Greenland, “Better To Own Than To Rent” But He Has Done It Prominently Twice With The Trump Organization
President Trump Said About Greenland, “Better To Own Than To Rent” But He Has Done It Prominently Twice With The Trump Organization
Now, He May Embrace “Infinite” Lease, But Absent “Ownership”
He Seems To Be Prepared To Accept What He Did Not Want, Until He Did.
Donald Trump, President of the United States (2017-2021 and 2025-2029), reiterated during remarks at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, that “better to own than to rent” in reference to the self-governing territory of Greenland within the Kingdom of Denmark.
On at least two occasions, New York, New York-based The Trump Organization entered long-term leases to manage and operate assets belonging to someone else.
One of the assets was and remains the property of the taxpayers in New York City, New York. Another asset was and remains the property of the taxpayers of the United States.
President Trump shared he will not issue an order to the United States Department of Defense (War) to deploy military assets onto Greenland to secure ownership status.
However, President Trump has deployed rhetorical assets (United States Secretary of State, United States Secretary of the Treasury, United States Secretary of Commerce, and United States Trade Representative) into the discussion about Greenland.
Their targets of opportunity are the twenty-seven country members of the Brussels, Belgium-based European Union (EU) and the thirty-two country members of the Brussels, Belgium-based North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
EU: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
NATO: United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Turkiye, Latvia, and North Macedonia, Sweden.
In 2013, The Trump Organization signed a sixty-year leasehold interest with the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages properties owned by the United States Government, to redevelop the Old Post Office Building into the Trump International Hotel. In 2022, The Trump Organization sold the leasehold interest in the property for approximately US$375 million, representing a profit, which was then rebranded Waldorf Astoria, a brand owned by McLean, Virginia-based Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (2025 revenue approximately US$12 billion). The property was placed into foreclosure in 2024. Reportedly, The Trump Organization in 2025 discussed re-purchasing the leasehold.
In 1987, The Trump Organization signed a contract with the City of New York to manage and operate Wollman Rink, a public ice rink created in 1950 located in Central Park. In 1995, the contract was awarded by the City of New York to another company. From 2001 to 2021, The Trump Organization again managed and operated Wollman Rink when the contract was cancelled by the City of New York in response to the 6 January 2021 attack on the United States Capitol in Washington DC.
The Trump Organization