Three weeks ago, police officers in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, went on high alert after an older American man, dressed in a sharp black suit, was spotted on the streets trying to get Greenlanders to sign on to a peculiar petition.
He told people his name was Cliff. He said he was working for himself. And he made an intriguing offer: If you agree to join the United States, he proposed, you could each get $200,000.
Who was he?
In an interview in Nuuk, Clifford E. Stanley, a retired mortgage broker from Las Vegas, explained his unusual mission to The New York Times.
“Why am I interested in Greenland? Because I’m a broker,” he said. “So I came here to present this and see if there was any interest.”
He added, “It’s a sales job.”
Mr. Stanley, 86, has spent his life trying to sell mortgages, real estate and some big ideas. Years ago, he sent himself to Saudi Arabia to hustle securities, which did not work out. After that, he said, he went to Mongolia to see if there was a way for the United States to occupy it. He said he had even developed a plan to build a $1 trillion canal through the Caucasus Mountains before realizing it was way too expensive.
“My dad’s a good salesman,” said Cynthia Stanley, his oldest daughter, who lives in Hawthorne, Calif.
But, she added, “he’s a lot.”
Mr. Stanley has been married and divorced twice. He made a decent living in San Jose, Calif., for many years, but his broker license was revoked in the early 2000s for inappropriate conduct, an incident he said “really hurt me emotionally and financially.”
His daughter said that besides playing his grand piano (his passion), he had some time on his hands. About six months ago, he became seized by Greenland.
Instead of buying Arctic gear for his trip, he ordered a double-breasted suit. In early May, he arrived in Nuuk, alone, and checked into a midgrade hotel. He began riding around in taxis with a neatly stapled petition that read: “Territorial referendum. Sign up $200,000 tax free.”
Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, and most Greenlanders have expressed that they do not want to join the United States, despite President Trump’s offers. His repeated threats have not helped either, and Greenlanders have made it clear that they do not want to be bought.
“When I first came here, nearly everybody, especially the old ladies, were yelling at me and swearing at me,” Mr. Stanley said. “Then two policemen knocked on my door and said, ‘We’re here to investigate you.’”
“I said: ‘I’ll cooperate fully. Anything you want,’” he recalled.
He said the officers took pictures of his documents, made their report and left.
Greenland’s police officials declined to discuss the investigation with The Times. But the Greenlandic news media reported that investigators had concluded that Mr. Stanley had not broken any laws. Still, he is being watched closely, according to photos on social media.
As he trudges around in the freezing wind of a Greenland spring with his stack of papers, Mr. Stanley has become a testament to the wackiness of this political moment. An ever-evolving cast of Americans, including some sent by Mr. Trump, has descended on the gigantic Arctic island hoping to turn it into American soil.
Was Mr. Stanley sent by anyone?
“No. I’m a sole proprietor. Sole means single,” he said. “No individual, no organization, no politics, no corporation. Nothing.”
The U.S. Embassy in Denmark has said Mr. Stanley is not connected to the government in any way.
As for Mr. Trump, Mr. Stanley said: “He’s not a dummy. He’s got a couple billion bucks, beautiful woman in his life, tremendous family, right?”
“I don’t care for some of his moral qualities,” he added. “I don’t admire him. I admire what he’s done.”
Mr. Stanley calculated that if the United States paid $12 billion for Greenland, that would mean around $200,000 for each of the island’s 57,000 residents. Congress has not taken even the first step to do anything like this, but if America did, Mr. Stanley said, it would be good for both sides.
As a lifelong broker, Mr. Stanley also calculated that he would net a $72 million commission, saying, “I’m morally, ethically and legally obliged to disclose that.”
So far, that commission looks like a pipe dream. No one has hired him. And only a handful of Greenlanders have signed on. But he does not mind making the effort, saying it reminds him of his mortgage broker days.
“I was always out pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, talking to people about their credit and their income, their civil legal problems, their criminal legal problems, drug problems, divorce problems,” he said.
He plans to stay in Greenland for a few more days. He hopes to land a meeting with Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, who harshly criticized his mission. Late one recent night, as he sat in his hotel room, Mr. Stanley polished his agenda:
Apology
Deepest apology to Premier Nielsen for offense
Beg forgiveness
Jeffrey Gettleman is an international correspondent based in London covering global events. He has worked for The Times for more than 20 years.
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