Satirical short play 'International Trade' imagines a presidential bid to 'buy' Greenland

Ron Rosenfeld's short play "International Trade," presented as part of the Third Year festival at the Roxy Garden, stages a comic Oval Office meeting in which a presidential character proposes taking Greenland and trading U.S. territory in exchange.

The script assigns roles including "President Trump," a secretary of state and a Danish foreign minister, and uses broad political satire to critique transactional approaches to foreign policy. Onstage business in the scene includes the president character practicing putting and proposing a resort called "Greenland A Lago," offering states or the District of Columbia in exchange for Greenland, and suggesting a change to the electoral formula that would favor the president’s party.

Why it matters: the piece uses topical political figures and exaggerated deals as satire to explore how political negotiation, media spectacle and personal vanity intersect. Producer Sean Gannett introduced the piece by noting its origin and theme: "This is play a play, by Ron Rosenfeld Rosenfeld, and he's from Hawaii. His theme is international IPo iPolicy," he said during the program's introductions.

Staging and tone: the play is short, staged as a single scene in the Oval Office, and relies on broad comedic beats and character caricature. As with other works in the festival, Rosenfeld's piece was presented as work in development; organizers encouraged audience feedback via a QR form and noted MCAT would record performances for later viewing.

The festival presented Rosenfeld’s work alongside 15 other original short plays in a two‑night program; audience members were invited to share reactions that the festival said would be forwarded to the playwrights.