A new online petition is proposing that the country of Denmark buy California for a trillion dollars.
The man behind the push, Xavier Dutoit, started the “Denmarkification” website to make the pitch that the Scandinavian state should buy the Golden one, initially convincing many on the internet that, while the petition was unlikely to succeed, it really was gaining massive traction with hundreds of thousands of signers.
“Have you ever looked at a map and thought, ‘You know what Denmark needs? More sunshine, palm trees, and roller skates.’ Well, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make that dream a reality. Let’s buy California from Donald Trump!” Dutoit wrote on the petition website.
There are a number of pluses to a potential purchase, he argued, including avocado toast, tech dominance and Disneyland — though the latter would be renamed Hans Christian Andersenland, after the Danish author. (“Mickey Mouse in a Viking helmet? Yes, please,” he wrote.)
Trump might be convinced to sell the state because he “isn’t exactly California’s biggest fan,” Dutoit wrote, noting his feuds with its leaders and history of critical comments about the state.
Trump has also repeatedly asserted that the U.S. should acquire control of Greenland, a self-ruling Danish territory between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.
Dutoit admits that the proposal is just a gag. It is unlikely that Denmark could successfully crowdfund the money to purchase California, let alone convince the U.S. to sell.
The website is not even serious when it comes to the numbers — if the $1-trillion proposed price tag for “New Denmark” didn’t already make that clear.
Dutoit admitted that in reality, the petition has gotten thousands of signatures, but far fewer than the nearly 250,000 stated on the website.
“Believe me, it’s a fantastic deal. The best deal. People are signing up faster than you can say ‘Rødgrød med fløde,’” Dutoit wrote in an email, referencing a difficult-to-pronounce Danish pudding.
Despite his petition, Dutoit isn’t even Danish. He’s half French and half Swiss, which he says makes him eligible to be New Denmark’s “Chief Pastry Officer.”
“Fortunately, my Danish friends didn’t seem to be offended and some of them joined the team,” he said.
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