Sure, Trump Can Buy Greenland. But Why Does He Think It's Up to Denmark?

``Beginning especially in the wake of World War I and peaking in the era of decolonization, international law and practice have begun to give greater recognition to the principle of self-determination--the notion that peoples should be able to choose their sovereignty, rather than have it assigned to them... Self-determination is the fly in Trump's buttermilk. As we argued in our earlier work, and as some commentators have noted in the past week, this proposed deal wouldn't be permissible even if Denmark did want to sell, because respect for the principle of self-determination would require that the people of Greenland agree as well. As the Danish prime minister succinctly put it: ""Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland."''