Donald Trump spent a noteworthy chunk of the transition period provoking controversy—and insulting NATO allies—with his proposals for expanding the U.S. Maybe most prominently, he has repeatedly discussed buying Greenland from Denmark,

From the Reconstruction era to the Cold War, multiple administrations have tried (and failed) to acquire the Arctic island. Here’s why Greenland has always remained out of reach—and why it always mattered so much.

The President-elect’s brand of America First isolationism has always sat awkwardly with his Napoleonic tendencies.