you are aware that he doesn't actually believe that he "[...] could have convinced [..]" it's a manner of speech a instrument of telling a story a way to exp

you are aware that he doesn't actually believe that he "[...] could have convinced [..]" it's a manner of speech a instrument of telling a story a way to express how completely absurd "US getting involved into Greenland" is for anyone who understands the land (geography/weather) and people even unrelated to geopolitical aspects like alienating allies