Joke petition tells Denmark to purchase California

BERLIN — Is California for sale? A lighthearted petition to buy the state of California for Denmark prompted more than 200,000 signatures by Wednesday — in response to US President Donald Trump's wish to take control of Greenland, a vast and mineral-rich Arctic island.

"Have you ever looked at a map and thought, 'You know what Denmark needs? More sunshine, palm trees, and roller skates,'" the petition asks. "Well, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make that dream a reality.

"It is in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our nation, so California will become New Denmark," it says.

Xavier Dutoit, the petition's author, got the idea last month while vacationing in the Philippines. He overheard a US tourist loudly discussing Trump's Greenland pitch.

"That American didn't seem to grasp how unhinged and absurd it was for any country's president — especially in a stable democracy that the USA claims to be — to offer or threaten to take over another sovereign country's territory," Dutoit wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

While Dutoit is not Danish — he is Swiss-French — he consulted a multinational group of friends who are helping him, including Kenneth Haar, who is Danish and lives in Copenhagen.

'Depressing' issue

"The Trump-Greenland issue is, by far, the biggest political issue in this country at the moment," Haar told AP. "It is considered a very depressing and a very dangerous situation."

There is one city in southern California with a very real connection to the land of Vikings, Lego and Hans Christian Andersen. Known as "the Danish capital of America", Solvang was founded by three immigrants from Denmark in 1911.

The city is popular with tourists, who come in droves for its aebleskiver pastries, Scandinavian windmills, a main street called "Copenhagen Drive" and, of course, a Hans Christian Andersen Museum to honor the famous Danish fairy tale author. Danish royals have visited the city several times over the decades.

In 2019, Trump scrapped a trip to Denmark, blaming Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen for making a "nasty" statement when she rejected his idea of buying Greenland as an absurdity. Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark.

Before taking office again last month, Trump said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of Greenland, calling it vital to US national security, and last month his son visited the island.

Haar said California's appeal to Danes is obvious, from its towering mountains to its sunny beaches.

The petition organizers even have their own plans for Disneyland in Southern California: "We'll rename it Hans Christian Andersenland. Mickey Mouse in a Viking helmet? Yes, please."

But of course, every petition needs some fine print, way down at the bottom: "Disclaimer: This campaign is 100% real … in our dreams."

Agencies via Xinhua