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The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported, and MS NOW confirmed, that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers in a classified briefing this week that the White House is less interested in military action and more interested in trying to buy Greenland — which, by all accounts, is not currently for sale.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson brushed off the idea, telling reporters that Rubio might’ve made the comment “in jest.” The Louisiana Republican repeated the line Wednesday morning, explaining at a Capitol Hill press conference that he thinks he remembers hearing the secretary of state talk about a possible Greenland purchase, but the GOP leader said he “took it as a joke.”

Readers, it was not a joke.

Q: Does the US intend to buy Greenland?

MARCO RUBIO: That's always been the president's intent

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-07T16:31:55.422Z

Asked to clarify comments he made to lawmakers behind closed doors on Monday, Rubio told reporters late Wednesday morning that it’s “always” been Trump’s “intent” to try to buy Greenland.

Less than an hour later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said largely the same thing, explaining during a briefing that the president is “actively” discussing the purchase of Greenland.

Leavitt says Trump is "actively" discussing buying Greenland

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-07T17:10:56.139Z

As policy priorities go, all of this seems plainly ridiculous. And yet it also raises a host of new and related questions: Where exactly does Trump intend to get the money to buy a massive arctic island that isn’t for sale? Is he going to ask Congress to appropriate the funds? Would GOP lawmakers be willing to write an enormous check?

And how embarrassed is the House speaker right now after his “took it as a joke” line has been publicly discredited by his ostensible allies?