Ronald Lauder is also a major Republican campaign funder, including at least $1 million in donations to Trump. In parallel, he has launched concrete investments in Greenland, through Greenland Development Partners, a Delaware-registered company active in the water and energy sectors.
The idea of the United States buying Greenland, publicly floated by Donald Trump, did not arise by chance. Behind it stands Ronald Lauder, the American cosmetics billionaire and longtime friend of the president, writes Corriere della Sera, referring to an investigation by the Danish media Politiken. Lauder, 81, heir to the Estée Lauder empire and a former classmate of Trump at the Wharton School of Business, is a key figure in this story that combines American politics, economic interests and geopolitical balances in the Arctic.
AN IDEA SOWED YEARS AGO
According to John Bolton, former National Security Advisor during Trump’s first term, it was Ronald Lauder who first suggested the idea of Greenland. Bolton confirmed this to The Free Press, noting that Trump mentioned the issue to him in 2019. The same version is also reinforced by the investigative book The Divider (2021), by journalists Peter Baker (New York Times) and Susan Glasser (New Yorker), where Trump speaks of a “very wealthy friend” who had proposed this strategic move to him, a clear reference to Lauder.
POLITICAL DONATIONS AND STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS
Ronald Lauder is also a major Republican campaign funder, including at least $1 million in donations in support of Trump. In parallel, he has launched concrete investments in Greenland, through the company Greenland Development Partners, registered in Delaware and active in the water and energy sectors. As Corriere della Sera states, these investments raise questions about the intertwining of private interests and American foreign policy.
SUSPECTS OF RUSSIAN INFLUENCE
One element that has fueled speculation is the fact that Lauder, as president of the World Jewish Congress, has met twice with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin (2016 and March 2019). This has led some analysts to believe that the Greenland idea may have been indirectly promoted by Moscow, to divert American attention from Ukraine. However, there is no concrete evidence of direct Kremlin intervention. Suspicions grew after a fake letter in 2019, which spoke of an alleged referendum on Greenland’s independence from Denmark, but the document turned out to be forged and with unknown authors.
PARALLELISM WITH VENEZUELA
The article notes that the same pattern of interests is also evident in the case of Venezuela. Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council official, told Congress that Russia had proposed a trade-off, giving the US freedom of action in Venezuela in exchange for Russian freedom in Ukraine. Although this offer was rejected, the economic interests continued. Investor Paul Singer, a major donor to the Trump campaign, has purchased American refineries specifically designed to process Venezuelan heavy oil. Recently, the US administration announced that it would import oil from Caracas.