Proposed United States acquisition of Greenland#Proposals by Donald Trump

{{further|Politics of Greenland|Foreign relations of Greenland}}

{{Quote box

| title = Greenland Self-Government Act, Chapter 8, Greenland's access to independence

| quote = 21.-(1) The decision on Greenland's independence shall be made by the Greenlandic people.
(2) In case of such decision pursuant to subsection 1, negotiations are initiated between the government and Naalakkersuisut for the purpose of implementing independence for Greenland.
(3) An agreement between Naalakkersuisut and the government on the implementation of independence for Greenland shall be made with the consent of Inatsisartut and shall be approved by a referendum in Greenland. Any agreement shall in addition be with the consent of the Danish Parliament.
(4) Independence for Greenland entails, that Greenland assumes sovereignty over Greenland.

| source = Lov om Grønlands Selvstyre, 12 June 2009. https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2009/473

}}

{{clear}}

File:Christiansborg fra Nikolaj Kirken.jpg in Copenhagen, seat of the Danish Parliament, from where Greenland's foreign, defense and security policy is decided{{Cite news |first=Jonatan Robbert |last=Larsen |date=8 January 2025 |title=OVERBLIK: Hvad bestemmer Grønland selv? |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/overblik-hvad-bestemmer-groenland-selv |access-date=8 January 2025 |work=DR}}]]

Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.* {{Cite web |url=http://www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/autonomy.html |title=The working autonomies in Europe |publisher=Society for Threatened Peoples | quote=Denmark has established very specific territorial autonomies with its two island territories |last=Benedikter |first=Thomas |date=2006-06-19 |access-date=August 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309063149/http://www.gfbv.it/3dossier/eu-min/autonomy.html |archive-date=March 9, 2008 |url-status=dead}}

• {{Cite web |url=http://www.world-autonomies.info/tas/Greenland/Pages/default.aspx |title=Greenland |last=Ackrén |first=Maria |publisher=Autonomy Arrangements in the World |date=November 2017 |quote=Faroese and Greenlandic are seen as official regional languages in the self-governing territories belonging to Denmark. |access-date=August 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830110832/http://www.world-autonomies.info/tas/Greenland/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |url-status=dead}}
• {{Cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/countries/greenland_en |title=Greenland |date=2013-06-03 |website=International Cooperation and Development |publisher=European Commission | language=en |access-date=2019-08-27 |quote=Greenland [...] is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark}} In 1953 Denmark formally added what was then its colony to the kingdom.{{Cite news |last=Hartmann |first=Jacques |date=2025-01-08 |title=Denmark can't prevent Greenland from becoming part of the US |url=https://www.arctictoday.com/opinion-danish-politicians-cannot-prevent-greenland-from-becoming-part-of-the-us/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=Altinget |via=ArcticToday}} The Greenlandic government has authority over Greenland's internal affairs such as the economy, social services, and infrastructure, while Denmark is responsible for the island's foreign affairs, defense, citizenship, currency, and monetary policy. The Danish Supreme Court is the final court of appeal.{{Cite news |last=Faurby |first=Mathilde |date=2025-01-07 |title=Derfor er grønlandsk politiker træt af Danmark og kigger mod USA |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/derfor-er-groenlandsk-politiker-traet-af-danmark-og-kigger-mod-usa |access-date=2025-01-13 |publisher=DR |language=da-DK}}

Under Danish law, Greenlandic independence is possible at any time based on the Self-Government Act of 2009, after a referendum in Greenland and approval by the Danish parliament. {{r|jacobsen20160504}}{{r|reuters20190821}}{{r|hartmann20250109}} Others question this, arguing that an amendment of the Danish Constitution is required.{{Cite web |last=Nielsen |first=Rasmus Smith |title=U.2024B.165 – Selvstændighedsbestemmelsen i selvstyreloven for Grønland i et stats- og folkeretligt perspektiv |url=https://www.karnovgroup.dk/artikler/u.2024b.165 |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=www.karnovgroup.dk |language=da}} Denmark has sovereignty over Greenland; private land ownership does not exist. Any agreement to allow for independence would transfer sovereignty from Denmark.{{r|tvtwo20250107}} The Greenlandic government declared in February 2024 that independence is its goal,{{r|gray20241125}} and independence is expected to be the most important issue at the April 2025 Greenlandic general election.{{r|cp20250108}} Due to its status as a former colony, some commentators have argued that under international law Greenland has, separate from the 2009 law, right of self-determination and could make a unilateral declaration of independence.{{r|hartmann20250109}}

The position of the Danish government is that it is up to Greenland to decide its own future, and that Denmark would respect a Greenlandic referendum on independence.{{cite news |title=Up to Greenland to decide its future, Danish PM tells Trump |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3w8e051j0do |access-date=19 January 2025 |work=www.bbc.com}} The Danish government reluctantly agreed in 2017 to finance two new airports, replacing potential Chinese investors, even though the investments sought by the island are viewed as preparing for independence.{{Cite news |last1=Lau |first1=Stuart |last2=Elmer |first2=Keegan |date=2019-09-01 |title=Did China's presence in Arctic prompt Trump's bid for Greenland? |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3025207/did-chinas-growing-presence-arctic-prompt-donald-trumps-offer |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210226173044/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3025207/did-chinas-growing-presence-arctic-prompt-donald-trumps-offer |archive-date=2021-02-26 |access-date=2019-09-02 |work=South China Morning Post |language=en}} Greenland gives Denmark a role in the Arctic; it is a member of the Arctic Council{{r|mouritzen20190826}} and as one of the five Arctic littoral states, a signatory to the Ilulissat Declaration.{{r|jacobsen20160504}}

Icelandic scholar Gudmundur Alfredsson said that the island should consider Denmark one of several competitors for it, and that the United States or Canada might provide more funding.{{r|hannestad20140324}} Rasmus Leander Nielsen of the University of Greenland said that Greenlanders have discussed since the 1980s creating a compact of free association (COFA) with Denmark after independence, and that some have suggested a COFA with the United States instead.{{Cite news |last=Dall |first=Anders |date=2024-11-05 |title=Trumps tidligere stabschef til DR: USA skal tage alvorlig snak med Grønland |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/trumps-tidligere-stabschef-til-dr-usa-skal-tage-alvorlig-snak-med-groenland |access-date=2025-01-18 |publisher=DR |language=da-DK}} Several Pacific nations with populations similar in size to Greenland have COFAs; current Greenlandic Minister of Foreign Affairs Mininnguaq Kleist visited the Cook Islands, affiliated with New Zealand, in 2006.{{Cite news |last=Breum |first=Martin |date=2024-11-06 |title=Trump vandt. Kan han også vinde Grønland? Hans tidligere rådgiver har en drejebog klar |url=https://www.altinget.dk/artikel/trump-vandt-kan-han-ogsaa-vinde-groenland-hans-tidligere-raadgiver-har-en-drejebog-klar |access-date=2025-01-18 |work=Altinget}}

{{further|Military of Greenland}}

File:HDMS Trition (Frigate 358) in 2024.jpg frigate HDMS Triton, carrying a Westland Lynx, off the coast of Greenland]]

Greenland does not have its own military. As a territory of Denmark, the Danish military is responsible for Greenland's defense and the island is within the area overseen by the NATO military alliance. The Joint Arctic Command is the Danish military branch responsible for Greenland. In 2020, Denmark's Arctic Command had four ships, four helicopters, one maritime patrol aircraft, and six dogsled teams to patrol the island.{{r|jgp20201019}} The Danish military has personnel based at Nuuk, Kangerlussuaq, Daneborg, Station Nord, Mestersvig, Grønnedal, and a liaison detachment at Thule Air Base.{{cite web |title=Arctic |url=https://www.fmn.dk/en/topics/national-tasks/arctic/ |website=Danish Ministry of Defence |date=19 February 2021}} Because of Greenland, it is among the few nations to have liaison officers at STRATCOM headquarters, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.{{Cite news |last=Liewer |first=Steve |date=2025-01-17 |title=Nebraska has nuclear reasons to pay attention to Trump's talk of buying Greenland |url=https://kearneyhub.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/nebraska-has-nuclear-reasons-to-pay-attention-to-trumps-talk-of-buying-greenland/article_d4ca8d93-c04d-5d0d-80e6-852b5b917ebd.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250118053846/https://kearneyhub.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/nebraska-has-nuclear-reasons-to-pay-attention-to-trumps-talk-of-buying-greenland/article_d4ca8d93-c04d-5d0d-80e6-852b5b917ebd.html |archive-date=2025-01-18 |access-date=2025-01-17 |work=Omaha World-Herald}} In 2019, Denmark announced that it would spend a further {{Currency|1.5|dkk}} billion to monitor Greenland.{{r|jgp20201019}} Denmark in December 2024 announced plans to build up its military presence in Greenland with more personnel, patrol ships, long-range drones, and upgrading an airport to handle Danish F-35 fighter aircraft.{{cite news |title=Denmark boosts Greenland defence after Trump repeats desire for US control |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgzl19n9eko |work=BBC News |date=24 December 2024}} This followed American demands for more Danish defense spending, including by the first Trump administration.{{Cite web |last1=Kayali |first1=Laura |last2=Cokelaere |first2=Hanne |date=2025-01-10 |title=Trump's invasion of Greenland would be 'the shortest war in the world' |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-invasion-greenland-shortest-war-world/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Politico|language=en-GB}}

Alex Gray, United States National Security Council chief of staff during the first Trump administration, said Danes "understand they don't have the ability to defend Greenland post independence". Denmark's active-duty military is smaller than the New York Police Department.{{Cite web |last=Detsch |first=Jack |date=2025-01-09 |title=Can Trump buy Greenland? Technically, yes. Here are his options. |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/09/can-america-buy-another-country-00197197 |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Politico |language=en}} The United States "accepted the legal obligation to defend against any attack" on Greenland in a 1951 treaty with Denmark.{{r|politico20250110}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.arctictoday.com/why-president-trumps-idea-to-buy-greenland-is-not-a-joke-in-denmark-and-greenland/ |title=Why President Trump's idea to buy Greenland is not a joke in Denmark and Greenland |last=Breum |first=Martin |date=2019-08-23 |website=Arctic Today |language=en-US |access-date=2019-08-25}} It has had bases there since the Second World War and has the largest military in the alliance. The 1951 Greenland Defense Agreement allowed the United States to keep its military bases in Greenland, and to establish new bases or "defense areas" if deemed necessary by NATO. The U.S. military could freely use and move between these defense areas, but was not to infringe upon Danish sovereignty in Greenland.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|pp=56–57}} The treaty gave the United States permanent jurisdiction over the defense areas of Thule, Sondrestrom and Narsarsuaq.{{cite book |last1=Kawana |first1=Shinji |title=Exploring Base Politics |date=2025 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780367404758 |page=25}} As of 2025, the only U.S. military base in Greenland is Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base). The 2004 Igaliku Agreement stated that Thule Air Base was the only U.S. defense area in Greenland and that the U.S. must inform Denmark and Greenland of any proposed changes.{{cite book |editor1-last=Weber |editor1-first=Joachim |title=Handbook on Geopolitics and Security in the Arctic |date=2020 |publisher=Springer |page=79}} Thus, the U.S. cannot increase its military presence without consent from Denmark and Greenland.{{r|jrc20190828}} The American presence helps ensure Danish authority over the island, however, and allows it to spend less on defense while avoiding having foreign troops on Danish soil,{{r|duke1989}}{{r|jacobsen20160504}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.weekendavisen.dk/content/item/21583 |title=Greenland (Denmark) |last=Krasnik |first=Martin |date=2019-08-22 |work=Weekendavisen |access-date=2019-08-25 |page=12 |language=da}}{{r|lippman20190824}}{{r|jrc20190912}} a barter nicknamed the "Greenland map".{{Cite news |last1=Graversen |first1=Mathilde |last2=Christense |first2=Maiken Brusgaard |last3=Nielsen |first3=Mads Røjkum |last4=Lyngaard |first4=Emilie Haaber |last5=Nuh |first5=Said |date=2025-01-07 |title=Derfor er Grønland så vigtig for sagens tre hovedpersoner |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2025-01-07-derfor-er-groenland-saa-vigtig-for-sagens-tre-hovedpersoner |access-date=2025-01-18 |publisher=TV2 |language=da-DK}} In the summer, the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard also use Kangerlussuaq Airport to fly scientists and supplies to research stations across Greenland.{{cite news |last1=Maksel |first1=Rebecca |title=The Dump Truck of Airplanes |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/lc-130-dump-truck-airplanes-180949923/ |access-date=January 15, 2025 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=February 27, 2014}}{{cite web |title=KANGERLUSSUAQ, GREENLAND –LC-130 'Skibirds' from the New York ... |url=https://dmna.ny.gov/ang/?p=1468240359 |website=ny.gov |publisher=New York National Guard |access-date=January 15, 2025}}

Greenlandic governments have said they seek to join NATO as an independent country,{{r|jrc20190828}} welcome increasing United States interest,{{r|wp20200722}} and do not oppose American military presence if the island benefits from investments in jobs and infrastructure.{{r|breum20190823}}

{{further|Economy of Greenland}}

{{as of|2021}} Greenland's annual GDP was $3 billion, 0.007% that of the United States.{{r|economist20250109}} Its working-age population is estimated to decline by 16% by 2040.{{Cite magazine |last=Finnsson |first=Páll Tómas |date=2020-02-04 |title=Greenland: Large decline in Greenland's working age population projected, but increase in bioeconomy jobs |url=https://nordregio.org/nordregio-magazine/issues/state-of-the-nordic-region-2020/greenland-large-decline-in-greenlands-working-age-population-projected-but-increase-in-bioeconomy-jobs/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |magazine=Nordregio |language=en-US}} {{as of|2017}} Denmark is by far Greenland's largest trade partner, receiving 55% of the island's exports and providing 63% of imports.{{Cite report |title=Greenland: what is China doing there and why? |last1=Dams |first1=Ties |last2=van Schaik |first2=Louise |year=2020 |publisher=Clingendael Institute |pages=29–37 |jstor=resrep24677.7 |last3=Stoetman |first3=Adája |jstor-access=free}} {{as of|2023}} it subsidizes Greenland with {{Currency|5.6|dkk}} billion annually,{{cite news |last1=Thiemann |first1=Per |title=Tidligere overvismand: Grønland betyder meget lidt for dansk økonomi |url=https://politiken.dk/danmark/oekonomi/art10235901/Gr%C3%B8nland-betyder-meget-lidt-for-dansk-%C3%B8konomi |access-date=12 January 2025 |work=Politiken |date=10 January 2025 |language=da-DK}} up from {{Currency|3.6|dkk}} billion in 2009.{{r|hannestad20140324}} The island's largest private industry is fishing.{{r|economist20250109}} Covering an area of 2,166,086 km², it has vast natural resources, including uranium, rare-earth minerals, and estimated 50 billion barrels of offshore oil and gas. Greenland has only one operating mine and little infrastructure, however; it has one commercial international airport, and no roads connect the 17 towns.{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-greenland-factbox-idUSKCN1VB1PW |title=Factbox: Greenland for sale? Why Trump's bid fell through |last=Gronholt-Pedersen |first=Jacob |date=2019-08-21 |access-date=2019-09-01 |work=Reuters |language=en}} One resident reported that flying from Nuuk to Qaqortoq, {{convert|280|mi}} away, requires two planes over two days and is more expensive than flying to Copenhagen.{{Cite news |last=Jiménez Barca |first=Antonio |date=2025-01-13 |title=Greenland, the frozen island Trump has set his sights on |url=https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-01-13/greenland-the-frozen-island-trump-has-set-his-sights-on.html |access-date=2025-01-13 |work=El Pais |language=en-us}}

Forty-three percent of Greenlanders work for the government, compared to 15% in the United States.{{r|economist20250109}} The island's per capita disposable income is the lowest in the Arctic other than Russia's, and less than one third that of the American state of Alaska,{{Cite news |last=Denning |first=Liam |date=2025-01-07 |title=Why Would Trump Buy Greenland When He Can Rent It? |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-01-07/why-would-trump-buy-greenland-when-he-can-rent-it |access-date=2025-01-09 |publisher=Bloomberg |language=en}} however, life expectancy of Alaskan natives is extremely low at 68 years, far lower than that of Greenlandic natives in Greenland, thereby suggesting that the wealth generated through mining and defense contracts in Alaska has not trickled down to the indigenous people of Alaska.{{Quantify|date=February 2025}} Danish investors have little presence in Greenland,{{Cite web |url=https://www.thearcticinstitute.org/denmark-interests-arctic-greenland-connection/ |title=Denmark's strategic interests in the Arctic: It's the Greenlandic connection, stupid! |last=Jacobsen |first=Marc |date=2016-05-04 |publisher=The Arctic Institute |language=en-US |access-date=2019-08-26}} although one fifth of Greenlanders live in Denmark.{{r|breum20190823}} Denmark has relinquished control over raw materials to the island,{{r|tbo20190910}} so has little interest in its resources.{{r|tvtwo20250107}} The island has one of the world's largest neodymium deposits, near Narsaq, but the Inuit do not have a history of mining so outside workers would be needed. Inuit Ataqatigiit won the 2021 Greenlandic general election with an ecological platform opposing the deposit's development{{r|barca20250113}}{{r|rasmussen20250304}} and ending hydrocarbon and uranium exploration.{{r|torralba20241231}} The ban also applies to any minerals with a certain amount of the metal, blocking non-uranium exploration since 2009 by Energy Transition Minerals at Kvanefjeld, near Narsaq.{{r|rasmussen20250304}}

Although Greenlandic officials have approached dozens of Canadian and Australian mining companies, many are hesitant. The Kvanefjeld dispute may dissuade the American investors that the government also welcomes.{{r|rasmussen20250304}} Because of the lack of infrastructure, all mining projects are greenfield land and investors need to build new roads, ports, and power plants.{{Cite news |last1=Seidelin |first1=Lisa Munck |last2=Mortensen |first2=Mikkei Walentin |last3=Jensen |first3=Emil Vincent Sarrouw |date=2025-01-10 |title=Grønland rummer nøglen til USA's overlevelse, mener Trump – TV 2 |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/business/2025-01-09-groenland-rummer-noeglen-til-usas-overlevelse-mener-trump |access-date=2025-01-18 |publisher=TV2 |language=da-DK}}{{r|rasmussen20250304}} {{as of|2025|03}} the island has only two active mines: One for gold that is being commissioned, and one owned by Lumina Sustainable Materials for anorthosite. A ruby mine closed in 2024 after bankruptcy.{{Cite news |last=Rasmussen |first=Sune Engel |date=2025-03-04 |title=Greenland Has the Makings of a Mining Boom. So Where Is Everyone? |url=https://www.wsj.com/us-news/greenland-has-the-makings-of-a-mining-boom-so-where-is-everyone-8d07d07d |access-date=2025-03-05 |work=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}} Javier Blas of Bloomberg wrote in 2025 that "hyperbole around Greenland and commodities has a 50-year long history", noting that the island had never produced any petroleum and the attempt to mine iron ore ended in bankruptcy. A majority of possible mineral sites are north of the Arctic Circle; those south of the circle are mostly small, with Tanbreez among the exceptions. {{as of|2023}} the United States only imported $190 million in rare earths; if prices rose, they could be obtained more easily from American and other deposits than from Greenland. Blas urged the United States to focus on the African copperbelt and elsewhere as more important.{{Cite news |last=Blas |first=Javier |date=2025-01-14 |title=Trump's Folly? Greenland for Critical Minerals Is Utter Nonsense |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-01-15/trump-s-folly-greenland-for-critical-minerals-is-utter-nonsense |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=Bloomberg |language=en}}

"Investing in Greenland is not for the faint of heart", CEO Brian Hanrahan of Lumina said, stating that the anorthosite mine was more complex than any of the 270 worldwide sites he oversaw at another job.{{r|rasmussen20250304}} A 2014 report stated that replacing the Danish subsidy would require 24 large projects each costing {{Currency|5|dkk}} billion, one opening every two years. As no investors existed for such projects, the report by 13 scholars said that Greenland would remain dependent on the subsidy for at least 25 years to maintain its welfare system.{{Cite news |url=https://politiken.dk/oekonomi/dkoekonomi/art5499005/13-eksperter-skyder-Gr%C3%B8nlands-dr%C3%B8m-om-selvst%C3%A6ndighed-i-s%C3%A6nk |title=13 eksperter skyder Grønlands drøm om selvstændighed i sænk |last=Hannestad |first=Adam |date=2014-01-23 |work=Politiken |access-date=2019-09-02 |language=da-DK |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124075422/http://politiken.dk/oekonomi/dkoekonomi/ECE2190358/13-eksperter-skyder-groenlands-droem-om-selvstaendighed-i-saenk/ |archive-date=January 24, 2014 |df=mdy-all}} Minik Thorleif Rosing, one of the authors, in 2025 said that the situation had not changed: "Even if you had an unrealistically high rate of development of mineral resources, it would be unlikely to replace more than half the annual block grant from Denmark in any near future".{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Scarlett |date=2025-01-20 |title=Greenland's promise: is it the mineral haven Trump believes? |url=https://www.mining-technology.com/features/greenlands-promise-is-it-the-mineral-haven-trump-believes/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=Mining Technology |language=en-US}}

File:GIUK_Gap_Map.jpg

An acquisition of Greenland would give the United States control of an island that it sees as crucial to its defense.{{r|jones2016}}{{r|lippman20190824}} Reuters described Greenland in October 2020 as "a security black hole" for the United States and allies, and said its 27,000 miles (44,000 km) of coastline was difficult to monitor. "On several occasions since 2006, foreign vessels have turned up unexpectedly or without the necessary protocols, in waters that NATO-member Denmark aims to defend", the news agency reported. Detection of foreign vessels, including a Russian submarine, has often been by chance. A potential security threat are Russian ships believed to have the ability to tap undersea cables or sever them during a conflict.{{Cite news |last=Gronholt-Pedersen |first=Jacob |date=2020-10-19 |title=As the Arctic's attractions mount, Greenland is a security black hole |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-greenland-security-ins/as-the-arctics-attractions-mount-greenland-is-a-security-black-hole-idUSKBN2750J6 |access-date=20 Oct 2020}}

A 2021 study by the RAND Corporation expressed concern that Greenland "could be seduced into Russia's or China's orbit" were it to attain independence from Denmark. Speaking in 2025, Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard of the Danish Institute of International Studies said that the United States had legitimate security concerns in Greenland that Denmark had persistently failed to adequately safeguard.{{cite news |last1=Abrahamsen |first1=Sebastian |title=Danmark står i diplomatisk krise: »Vi har ikke særligt stærke kort på hånden« |url=https://www.information.dk/indland/2025/01/danmark-staar-diplomatisk-krise-saerligt-staerke-kort-paa-haanden |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=Dagbladet Information |date=January 16, 2025}} Russia is much more capable of Arctic land combat than the United States, and Greenland may be vulnerable to invasion.{{r|newdick20250109}}

The United States views control of the GIUK Gap (Greenland–Iceland–UK Gap), as critical to the maritime defense of the Eastern United States, and unimpeded access to Greenland as necessary for control of the gap.{{cite journal |last1=Savitz |first1=Scott |title=Mind the Gap |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2021/07/mind-the-gap.html |website=rand.org |date=July 15, 2021 |publisher=RAND Corporation |access-date=January 10, 2025}}{{cite journal |title=The GIUK Gap's strategic significance |journal=Strategic Comments |date=14 September 2019 |volume=25 |issue=8 |pages=i–iii |doi=10.1080/13567888.2019.1684626 }} A wartime priority of the United States is to "close the gap", or prevent an adversary navy from exiting the Norwegian Sea and approaching the United States.{{cite web |last1=Ward |first1=Shane |title=The GIUK Gap: A New Age of A2/AD in Contested Strategic Maritime Spaces |url=https://nuclearnetwork.csis.org/the-giuk-gap-a-new-age-of-a2-ad-in-contested-strategic-maritime-spaces/ |website=csis.org |date=September 12, 2024 |publisher=Center for Strategic International Studies |access-date=January 10, 2025}}{{r|cipherbrief20250108}} In 1957, the United States led Exercise Strikeback, the largest peacetime naval exercise in history, focused on stopping an aggressive "Orange Fleet" from transiting the gap, which was to be accomplished by means of a naval blockade involving hundreds of warships.{{cite news |last=Baldwin |first=Hanson W. |author-link=Hanson W. Baldwin |date=22 September 1957 |title=100 Fighting Ships in Vast Exercise |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/09/22/archives/100-fighting-ships-in-vast-exercise-strongest-part-of-nato-force-in.html |access-date=28 September 2009}}{{cite book |last=Key Jr. |first=David M. |year=2001 |title=Admiral Jerauld Wright: Warrior among Diplomats |publisher=Sunflower University Press |location=Manhattan, Kansas |isbn=978-0-89745-251-9 |pages=333}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,891351,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628231338/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,891351,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2011 |title=Emergency Call |access-date=3 October 2008 |magazine=Time |date=30 September 1957}} During much of the Cold War, the importance of closing the gap was to prevent Soviet SSBNs from sailing to within firing range of Washington, D.C. and New York City.

With the improvement of Soviet—and, later, Russian—missile ranges, the importance of gap control lessened, however, again became a priority in the early 21st century as the threat of hybrid warfare increased. Russia increased naval activity there, as part of greatly expanding its Arctic presence. It has increased cooperation with China, which wants a Polar Silk Road.{{Cite magazine |last1=Burrows |first1=Matthew |last2=Braml |first2=Josef |date=2025-01-10 |title=Why Greenland Matters |url=https://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-greenland-matters-214347 |magazine=The National Interest |language=en}} NATO annually undertakes exercise Northern Viking and in 2024, involved the United States Sixth Fleet, the Standing Naval Forces, the Icelandic Police and Icelandic Coast Guard, focused on responding to a threat against the integrity of the gap.{{cite web |title=Exercise Northern Viking strengthens NATO's strategic posture in the North Atlantic |url=https://mc.nato.int/media-centre/news/2024/exercise-northern-viking-strengthens-natos-strategic-posture-in-the-north-atlantic |website=nato.int |publisher=NATO |access-date=January 10, 2025}}

Greenlandic airspace is considered by the United States as vital to the air defense of itself and Canada.{{cite journal |title=Should Greenland and Denmark Become Part of NORAD? |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2022/09/should-greenland-and-denmark-become-part-of-norad.html |website=rand.org |date=September 16, 2022 |publisher=RAND Corporation |access-date=January 10, 2025 |last1=Bohnert |first1=Michael |last2=Savitz |first2=Scott }} The United States has demanded Denmark provide better airspace surveillance over Greenland and, in 2022, a study by RAND suggested integrating Greenland into the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) as a means of mitigating the inadequacies of Danish air defenses.{{cite web |last1=Olsvig |first1=Sara |title=Greenland obviously has its own defense policy |url=https://www.diis.dk/en/research/greenland-obviously-has-its-own-defense-policy |website=diis.dk |publisher=Danish Institute for International Studies |access-date=January 10, 2025}}

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Contemporary military operations have become dependent on polar-orbiting satellite. According to SpaceNews, addressing the matter of Greenland, "any satellite in a polar or sun-synchronous orbit, such as those in critical communications, imagery and weather monitoring constellations, requires an Arctic ground station for consistent tracking, telemetry, and control throughout every revolution". The United States Space Force base in Greenland, Pituffik Space Base, is one of only two Arctic facilities available to the United States, the other being Clear Space Force Station in Alaska. The potential loss of Pituffik Space Base following the independence of Greenland would leave the United States with no redundancy and, according to SpaceNews, "have serious consequences for both a future conflict and business as usual in orbit".{{cite news |last1=Marsh |first1=Dave |title=Why the space community should care about Arctic geopolitics |url=https://spacenews.com/why-the-space-community-should-care-about-arctic-geopolitics/ |access-date=January 12, 2025 |work=SpaceNews |date=January 8, 2025}}

On 9 January 2025 U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos issued a statement supporting U.S. acquisition of Greenland on grounds of space security, commenting "it's a critical part of ensuring our nation's security now and in the future ... America cannot afford to cede an inch in space or the Arctic".{{cite web |title=Rep. Mike Haridopolos Highlights Strategic Importance Of Greenland Amid Trump's Talks To Acquire It – Florida's Voice |url=https://haridopolos.house.gov/media/in-the-news/rep-mike-haridopolos-highlights-strategic-importance-greenland-amid-trumps-talks |website=house.gov |date=9 January 2025 |publisher=U.S. House of Representatives |access-date=January 12, 2025}}{{cite news |last1=Ogles |first1=Jacob |title=Mike Haridopolos sees Greenland as critically important to Space Force's mission |url=https://floridapolitics.com/archives/714990-mike-haridopolos-sees-greenland-as-critically-important-to-space-forces-mission/ |access-date=January 12, 2025 |work=Florida Politics |date=January 10, 2025}} Earlier, in July 2024, United States Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Carden—commenting on the deployment of military space assets—described the Arctic as "the shortest and least defended threat vector to North America".{{cite news |last1=Hadley |first1=Greg |title=Defense Leaders: We Need to Invest in Space, Unmanned Systems for the Arctic |url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/defense-leaders-space-unmanned-arctic/ |access-date=January 12, 2023 |work=Air and Space Forces Magazine |date=July 23, 2024}}

In addition to again permanently basing USAF fighters and bombers on Greenland, the United States might station long-range missiles there, similar to its plans in western Europe.{{Cite web |last=Newdick |first=Thomas |date=2025-01-09 |title=Why Greenland Is Of Growing Strategic Significance |url=https://www.twz.com/news-features/why-greenland-is-of-growing-strategic-significance |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=The War Zone |language=en-US}}

The United States may gain access to vast amounts of natural resources including petroleum and rare minerals.{{r|reuters20190821}}{{r|tbo20190910}} The United States Geological Survey estimates 17.5 billion barrels of offshore crude oil and 4.19 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.{{Cite news |last=Torralba |first=Carlos |date=2024-12-31 |title=Greenland annexation: Trump's whim rattling Denmark |url=https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-12-31/greenland-annexation-trumps-whim-rattling-denmark.html |access-date=2025-01-13 |work=El Pais |language=en-us}} The island has the largest deposits of rare-earth elements outside China.{{r|greber20210401}} Two thirds of the planet's fresh water outside Antarctica are frozen in Greenland, and its rock flour has unusually strong ability for soil regeneration and direct air capture of carbon.{{Cite news |last=Dyer |first=Evan |date=2025-01-16 |title=Why acquiring Greenland is more than just a whim of Trump |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-greenland-security-resources-1.7431319 |access-date=2025-01-16 |via=CBC}}

Experts predict that 5% of global shipping could use Arctic shipping routes by 2050.{{r|mcphail20250116}} Climate change may, by 2030, make the Northern Sea Route the first of the routes to be ice-free,{{Cite report |title=Presence before power: why China became a near-Arctic state |last1=Dams |first1=Ties |last2=van Schaik |first2=Louise |year=2020 |publisher=Clingendael Institute |pages=6–19 |jstor=resrep24677.5 |last3=Stoetman |first3=Adája |jstor-access=free}} linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and making Greenland's resources more accessible.{{r|tbo20190910}} The Northwest Passage is {{convert|4300|mi}} or four days shorter from the US east coast to Asia, and US west coast to Europe, than the Panama Canal; such routes are three fifths of traffic through the canal. The first commercial ship traversed the passage in 2013, saving $200,000; ten did so in 2024, and the passage may be open four months of the year by the end of the 21st century.{{Cite magazine |last=McPhail |first=Sam |date=2025-01-16 |title=What does Greenland have that Trump wants? |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-does-greenland-have-that-trump-wants/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |magazine=The Spectator |language=en-GB}}

Impressed by the size of the island, Trump stated, "Look at the size of this. It’s massive. That should be part of the United States." Speaking with his security advisor he expressed thoughts that its acquisition would be a great real estate deal.

If Greenland became part of the United States, the U.S. would become the second-largest country in the world by area, after Russia (displacing Canada). It would be the largest territorial acquisition in American history, slightly larger than the Louisiana Purchase.{{cite news |last1=Van Dam |first1=Andrew |title=The acquisition of Greenland would trump the Louisiana Purchase |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/16/acquisition-greenland-would-trump-louisiana-purchase/?noredirect=on |access-date=August 16, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 16, 2019}}

File:Denmark-Norway in 1780.PNG

Paleo-Eskimo peoples had been living in Greenland periodically from around 2500 BC. Norsemen began settling the uninhabited southern part of Greenland from the 10th century AD. In 1261, the Norse settlements in southern Greenland accepted Norwegian overlordship. These colonies died out in the 1400s, but Norway's territorial claims to Greenland continued to be asserted by Denmark–Norway after the union of the Danish and Norwegian realms in 1537. Beginning in 1721, missionaries and traders from Denmark–Norway began recolonizing southern Greenland. In 1775, Denmark–Norway declared Greenland a colony.{{cite web |title=Greenland and Denmark |url=https://www.danishmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/greenland-and-denmark |website=danishmuseum.org |publisher=Museum of Danish America | access-date=August 16, 2019}} When Denmark and Norway separated in 1814, Greenland was kept by Denmark under the Treaty of Kiel.Cavell (2008), pp. 433ffDörr (2004), pp. 103ff Denmark began trying to colonize all of Greenland in the 1880s,{{Cite web |url=http://nordics.info/en/show/artikel/usas-declaration-on-danish-sovereignty-of-greenland-1916/ |title=USA's declaration on Danish sovereignty of Greenland, 1916 |date=2019-06-21 |website=nordics.info |publisher=Aarhus University |language=en |access-date=2019-09-14}} and declared sovereignty over the whole island in 1921.{{r|emmerson2010}}

The United States could have challenged Denmark's claim to Greenland. Much of northern Greenland had not been mapped when the Kiel treaty was signed in 1814. During the Polaris Expedition of the early 1870s, American Charles Francis Hall was the first outsider to see northwest Greenland, decades before Denmark's first permanent settlement in the northwest in 1909.{{r|emmerson2010}} From 1886 to 1909, American Robert Peary was the first outsider to explore far northern Greenland and claimed much of the area for the United States.{{cite news |last1=Sandell |first1=Marybeth |title=Trump's Greenland purchase plan has been a U.S. ambition since 1868 |url=https://www.arctictoday.com/trump-isnt-the-first-the-u-s-has-repeatedly-tried-to-buy-greenland-since-1868/ |access-date=January 8, 2025 |work=Arctic Business Journal |date=January 6, 2025}}{{r|jones2016}}

Despite the Treaty of Kiel, Norway had long used the east coast of the island and objected to the 1921 Danish declaration. It stated that a 1924 agreement between the two countries did not endorse Danish sovereignty over the whole island,{{r|emmerson2010}} and in 1931 claimed eastern Greenland as Erik the Red's Land. A 1933 International Court of Justice ruling recognized Danish sovereignty over the whole island. Norway abided by this ruling, though briefly renewed its claim during the Quisling regime in the 1940s.{{cite web |title=The Cold War that Wasn't: Norway Annexes Greenland |url=https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-cold-war-that-wasnt-norway-annexes-greenland/ |website=bigthink.com |date=March 4, 2015 |publisher=Big Think |access-date=January 8, 2025}}

File:Alaska purchase.jpg

In 1867, United States secretary of state William H. Seward negotiated the Alaska Purchase from the Russian Empire. He that year considered the idea of United States annexation of both Greenland and Iceland an idea "worthy of serious consideration".{{cite news |last1=Andersen |first1=Anna |title=That Time The United States Was Thinking Of Buying Iceland |url=https://grapevine.is/mag/articles/2015/04/20/that-time-the-united-states-were-thinking-of-buying-iceland/ |access-date=August 16, 2019 |work=Reykjavík Grapevine |date=April 20, 2015}} Robert J. Walker, like Seward an advocate of American expansionism, submitted to Seward a report by the United States Coast Survey that the secretary of state had requested on the two islands. The government published the report ([https://books.google.com/books?id=U9lIAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP13 A Report on the Resources of Iceland and Greenland], Peirce 1868).{{r|dyer194009}} Seward wanted to encourage Americans to support a potential purchase offer, so the report very positively described Greenland's "unusual healthfulness" and large amounts of fish, game, and minerals. Annexation would also encourage Canada—between American territory to the east and west—to join the United States, the report predicted.{{Cite news |last=Ludwig |first=Jeff |date=2019-08-31 |title=Auburn's William Seward also dreamed of Greenland |url=https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2019/08/auburns-william-seward-also-dreamed-of-greenland-commentary.html |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=Syracuse Post-Standard |language=en}}

In 1868 negotiations by the secretary for purchasing both Greenland and Iceland from Denmark for $5.5 million in gold were reportedly "nearly complete"{{Cite news |date=1868-07-01 |title=By Telegraph. |url=https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=toj18680701-01.1.3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------- |access-date=2024-08-07 |work=The Ogdensburg Journal |pages=3}} but Seward made no offer, probably because Congress did not approve a treaty to acquire the Danish West Indies.{{Cite journal |last=Dyer |first=Brainerd |date=September 1940 |title=Robert J. Walker on Acquiring Greenland and Iceland |url=https://rse.hi.is/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Dyer.WalkerPurchaseofIceland-2.pdf |journal=Mississippi Valley Historical Review |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=263–266 |doi=10.2307/1896815 |jstor=1896815}}{{cite book |last1=Gissurarson |first1=Hannes Hólmsteinn |title=Proposals to Sell, Annex or Evacuate Iceland, 1518–1868 |date=October 2015 |isbn=978-9935-424-19-8 |hdl=1946/23162 |hdl-access=free }} President Andrew Johnson was very unpopular with Republicans in Congress, and although Seward was also a Republican, his association with Johnson made passing his proposals unlikely.{{r|ludwig20190831}}

A proposal for acquisition of Greenland was discussed within the American government in 1910 by United States ambassador to Denmark Maurice Francis Egan. As suggested by Danish "persons of importance" who were friends of Egan, the United States would trade Mindanao and Palawan for Greenland and the Danish West Indies; Denmark could then trade Mindanao and Palawan to Germany for Northern Schleswig.{{Cite web |last=Egan |first=Maurice Francis |date=1910-09-20 |title=Minister Egan to the Assistant Secretary of State |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917/d759 |access-date=2020-10-21 |website=Office of the Historian, United States Department of State}}{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Halbert |title=Governing the North American Arctic: Sovereignty, Security, and Institutions |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-49391-0 |pages=107–116 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLPtCwAAQBAJ&q=mindanao&pg=PA107}}{{cite web |last1=Plischke |first1=Elmer |title=Territorial Sovereignty in the Arctic |url=https://collections.dartmouth.edu/arctica-beta/html/EA11-03.html |website=dartmouth.edu |publisher=Encyclopedia Arctica |access-date=August 21, 2019}} Denmark regained Northern Schleswig from Germany after the German defeat in World War I following the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.

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| quote = "... the undersigned Secretary of State of the United States of America, duly authorized by his Government, has the honor to declare that the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland".

| author = Robert Lansing, signed at New York, 4 August 1916

| source = {{cite web |title=Convention Between the United States and Denmark for the Cession of the Danish West Indies |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917/d881 |website=state.gov |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=January 7, 2025}}

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File:Last_Danish_Parade_at_Saint_Croix.jpg in 1917]]

Another American attempt to buy the Danish West Indies failed in 1902, this time because the Danish parliament did not pass the treaty.{{Cite web |title=The Sales Treaty 1902 |url=https://www.virgin-islands-history.org/en/history/sale-of-the-danish-west-indian-islands-to-the-usa/the-sales-treaty-1902/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715175650/https://www.virgin-islands-history.org/en/history/sale-of-the-danish-west-indian-islands-to-the-usa/the-sales-treaty-1902/ |archive-date=2019-07-15 |access-date=September 9, 2022 |website=Danish National Archive |language=en-US}} During the First World War, the United States again wanted to buy the Danish West Indies. Denmark wanted the United States to recognize the Danish claim over the whole of Greenland. United States secretary of state Robert Lansing proposed that the two issues be combined.{{Cite web |last=Lansing |first=Robert |date=1915-12-27 |title=Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, The Lansing Papers, 1914–1920, Volume II, Document 328 |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1914-20v02/d328 |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State}} Denmark sold the Danish West Indies to the United States, which were renamed the United States Virgin Islands and made an unincorporated territory of the United States.{{cite web |title=Purchase of the United States Virgin Islands, 1917 |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwi/107293.htm |website=state.gov |publisher=United States Department of State | date=July 21, 2008 |access-date=August 16, 2019}} After the treaty, Lansing issued a declaration affirming the U.S. "will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland".

John Douglas Hazen proposed at the Imperial War Conference that the British Empire buy Greenland for Canada to prevent the United States from acquiring it.{{Cite web |last=Mitcham |first=John C. |date=2019-09-16 |title=That Time Canada Tried to Purchase Greenland |url=https://imperialglobalexeter.com/2019/09/16/that-time-canada-tried-to-purchase-greenland/ |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=Imperial & Global Forum |language=en}} The Imperial War Cabinet in 1917 declared that even a friendly nation obtaining Greenland would be undesirable to the empire and especially to Canada, and that the empire should obtain a right of first refusal for the island from Denmark when possible.{{Cite journal |last=Johnston |first=V. Kenneth |date=March 1933 |title=Canada's Title to the Arctic Islands |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/625528/summary |journal=The Canadian Historical Review |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=24–41 |doi=10.3138/chr-014-01-03 |via=Project MUSE}} According to Tom Høyem, Britain in 1917 secured a right of first refusal from Denmark,{{Cite web |author=Peter Conradi |date=2025-01-25 |title=Sorry, Trump: this pact says Britain has first dibs on Greenland |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/sorry-trump-this-pact-says-britain-has-first-dibs-on-greenland-nhzvdmk5j |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}{{r|plischke1950}} although it is unclear "if Høyem’s interpretation of the document could withstand legal scrutiny".{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/another-country-has-first-dibs-on-greenland-before-america-ex-ambassador/|title=Another Country Has 'First Dibs' On Greenland Before America: Ex-Envoy|date=26 January 2025|website=The Daily Beast}}

Since 1823 the United States has, in the Monroe Doctrine, opposed expansion of foreign sovereignty in the Americas.{{r|breum20190823}} Lansing's declaration was an exception to the doctrine, and influenced other countries.{{r|usadeclaration}} In 1919, Denmark asked other nations to recognize its sovereignty over Greenland. Britain reiterated on behalf of Canada in September 1920 that it should be consulted before any sale;{{r|johnston193303}} France, Japan, Italy, and Sweden had no reservations.{{r|plischke1950}} The United States formally opposed the reservation,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-shpr5oosd8C&pg=PA89 |title=The Future History of the Arctic |last=Emmerson |first=Charles |date=2010 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-0-7867-4624-8 |pages=89–90, 105–106 |access-date=2019-08-27}} telling Britain that "The United States government is not disposed to recognize the existence in a third government of a right of pre-emption to acquire this territory if the Danish Government should desire to dispose of it and accordingly reserves for the future consideration what position it may take in the event of a specific proposal for such a transfer".{{r|johnston193303}} Denmark formally declared sovereignty over all of Greenland in 1921.{{r|usadeclaration}} Norway renewed a claim to Erik the Red's Land in 1931, but two years later the Permanent Court of International Justice ruled against the country, finding that the claim had been transferred to Denmark in 1814.Cavell (2008), p. 434{{r|emmerson2010}}

Peary encouraged the United States to assert its claim to Greenland,{{r|emmerson2010}} believing that not doing so violated the Monroe Doctrine. He wanted to purchase the island for mineral wealth and to avoid foreign bases that would, as air and sea technology improved, threaten his country. During World War I, the United States decided that obtaining the Danish West Indies to defend the Panama Canal was more important,{{r|jones2016}} but in the 1920s General Billy Mitchell, advocating for expanding American air forces, wanted American bases on Greenland and Iceland.{{r|emmerson2010}}

In 1939, United States secretary of state Cordell Hull's staff advised him to not offer to buy Greenland. United States secretary of war Harry Woodring said that the island was too far from American sea or air routes. Within one year, however, the German invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940 showed the American government that Peary had been correct about Greenland's importance to the Arctic policy of the United States.{{r|jones2016}} Before World War II, the island was part of Rainbow 4, a contingency plan to deal with a siege of North America in which the United States was simultaneously attacked from every direction by every great power. In Rainbow 4, American forces would preemptively seize all Dutch, Danish, and French possessions in the western hemisphere—including Greenland—and garrison them to form a defensive perimeter around the United States.{{cite web |title=Greenland: Arctic Outpost |url=https://history.army.mil/books/wwii/Guard-US/ch17.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428013553/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/guard-us/ch17.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 April 2008 |website=arm.mil |publisher=United States Army | access-date=August 21, 2019}}{{cite book |last1=Johnsen |first1=William T. |title=The Origins of the Grand Alliance: Anglo-American Military Collaboration from the Panay Incident to Pearl Harbor |date=2016 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-6835-7 |page=84}}{{cite book |last1=Kaiser |first1=David |title=No End Save Victory: How FDR Led the Nation into War |date=2014 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-06299-7 |pages=63–64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=12KnAgAAQBAJ}} Its conquest of Denmark now gave Germany a strong legal claim to Greenland. Britain and Canada were also possible foreign occupiers.{{r|jones2016}}

Because of its proximity to mainland North America and being the only known significant source of cryolite, and German attempts to use the island during the North Atlantic weather war, the United States for the first time applied the Monroe Doctrine on European colonies in the North Atlantic Ocean.{{cite journal |last1=Berry |first1=Dawn |title=Cryolite, the Canadian aluminium industry and the American occupation of Greenland during the Second World War |journal=The Polar Journal |date=December 2012 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=219–235 |doi=10.1080/2154896X.2012.735037 |bibcode=2012PolJ....2..219B }}{{r|armygreen}}{{r|jones2016}} The US landed armed United States Coast Guard personnel from {{USCGC|Northland|WPG-49}} in Greenland to begin the occupation of Greenland. Prior to landing, the Coast Guardsmen were formally discharged from service and reconstituted as a force of "volunteers" to create a legal fiction that would avoid charges of an American invasion of the country, the United States being neutral and the Danish government not having agreed to the landing.{{cite web |title=1941: The Coast Guard and the Greenland Operations |url=https://cgaviationhistory.org/1941-the-coast-guard-greenland-operations/ |website=cgaviationhistory.org |publisher=Coast Guard Aviation Association |access-date=August 16, 2019}} On 9 April 1941 Hull and Danish Ambassador to the United States Henrik Kauffmann signed the "Agreement Relating to the Defense of Greenland". The American stated that defending Greenland was consistent with the Monroe Doctrine and Act of Havana of 1940.{{r|ajil194107}} The United States Army began construction of Bluie West One in July 1941, the first of several bases. Kauffmann acted without the consent of his government, which considered the agreement to be void and recalled Kauffmann. He stayed in the United States, and after the war the Danish government again recognized "the good traitor" as ambassador to the country.{{cite news |title=In the name of the king or traitor to the crown? |url=https://cphpost.dk/2018-03-05/business-education/in-the-name-of-the-king-or-traitor-to-the-crown/ |access-date=19 January 2025 |work=The Copenhagen Post |date=5 March 2018}}{{r|time20250123}}

At the end of the war, Denmark expected U.S. forces to exit Greenland and was taken by surprise when the United States indicated it had no intention of leaving. Over the next several years, Danish officials attempted, unsuccessfully, to convince the United States to leave the island. According to Jeroen van Dongen, a period of tension between the two countries followed as, despite its desires, "Denmark was clearly not in a position to force the USA to leave Greenland" nor did it have any means at its disposal to deny the U.S. access to the territory.{{cite book |last1=van Dongen |first1=Jeroen |title=Cold War Science and the Transatlantic Circulation of Knowledge |date=2015 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004264229 |pages=271–280}}

By spring 1948 Denmark gave up on persuading the Americans to leave. Part of why the country joined NATO, Trade Minister Jens Otto Krag wrote in his diary, was that since "the USA's de facto partial occupation of Greenland (which we do not possess the power to prevent)" would cause the Soviet Union to see his country as an American ally, Denmark should benefit from the relationship.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|pp=48,54}} Some Danes hoped that as a NATO member the United States would discuss Greenlandic issues multilaterally,{{r|tbo20190910}} or vacate the bases as Denmark was an ally, but such did not occur.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|pp=54–56}}

File:James F. Byrnes Portrait (cropped).jpg

In 1946 the Joint Chiefs of Staff listed Greenland and Iceland as two of the three essential international locations for American bases. During the creation of NATO, the two islands were seen as more important to American and Canadian defense than some Western European countries;{{r|jones2016}}{{cite book |last1=Duke |first1=Simon |title=United States Military Forces and Installations in Europe |date=1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-829132-9 |pages=37–48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzKr3mSKyIgC&q=greenland&pg=PA37}} Greenland is on the shortest polar route between Washington and Moscow, and about midway between the two cities.{{cite journal |last1=Martin-Nielsen |first1=Janet |title=City under the Ice: The Closed World of Camp Century in Cold War Culture |journal=Science as Culture |date=February 2014 |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=443–464 |doi=10.1080/09505431.2014.884063 |url=https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/81615219/City_under_the_Ice_2014.pdf}}

In 1946, the United States offered Denmark $100 million (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US-GDP|.1|1946|r=0}}}} billion today) in gold bullion for Greenland. United States senator Owen Brewster said in November 1945 that he considered buying the island "a military necessity". The planning and strategy committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff determined in April 1946 that acquiring the "completely worthless to Denmark" island was vital to the United States.{{cite news |last1=Nelson |first1=W. Dale |title=Wanna Buy Greenland? The United States Once Did |url=https://www.apnews.com/9d4a8021c3650800fdf6dd5903f68972 |access-date=August 16, 2019 |work=Associated Press | date=May 2, 1991}}

William C. Trimble of the State Department argued that while "there are few people in Denmark who have any real interest in Greenland, economic, political or financial", owning it would give the United States staging areas from which to launch military operations over the Arctic against America's adversaries. He suggested the $100 million price, and discussed an alternate offer of land in Point Barrow, Alaska. Had the Alaska trade occurred, from 1967 Denmark would have benefited from Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, the richest petroleum discovery in American history. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes made the $100 million offer on December 14, 1946, in a memorandum delivered to Danish foreign minister Gustav Rasmussen when he visited the United States.{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=251}}{{cite news |last1=Oakley |first1=Don |title=Historian Claims U.S. Tried to Buy Greenland |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/15307813/ |access-date=August 16, 2019 |work=Hattiesburg American | agency=Associated Press | date=August 31, 1977 |via=newspapers.com}}{{subscription required}}{{r|ap}}

The memorandum described the American position on what to do about the informal 1941 agreement made in 1941 by Kauffmann to station United States forces on Greenland. It suggested three alternatives: Two variations on the 1941 agreement—A 99-year lease on the existing American bases there, or the United States wholly taking over the defense of the island—or the purchase of Greenland. The United States preferred to purchase and believed that doing so was better for Denmark, as it would prevent criticism of American bases on Danish soil and save Denmark the cost of supporting Greenland.{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=251}}{{sfn|Beukel|2010|pp=50–51}} The American told the Dane that a sale "would be the most clean-cut and satisfactory".{{r|ap}}

"Our needs ... seemed to come as a shock to Rasmussen", Byrnes said.{{r|ap}} The memorandum indeed surprised the Dane;{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=251}}{{sfn|Lidegaard|2003|p=220}} rumors at the time stated that the United States wanted to purchase Greenland,{{r|plischke1950}} but the Danish government's position was that the United States would withdraw its troops, based upon language in the 1941 Kauffmann agreement that it remained in force "until agreement has been reached that current threats to the peace and security of the American continent have ended". The Danish government understood that the threats were the world war;{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=49}}{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=251}}

it did not know that the U.S. understood this to include postwar threats from the Soviet Union as well.{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=251}} Known as "Article X" of the Kauffmann agreement, the clause established that both sides would have to agree to ending it.{{Cite magazine |last1=Rogers |first1=James Patton |last2=Pipe |first2=Caroline Kennedy |date=2025-01-23 |title=Why Trump Wants Greenland – And Why He Probably Won't Get It |url=https://time.com/7208293/buying-greenland-history/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |magazine=Time |language=en}}{{Cite journal |date=July 1941 |title=Denmark-United States: Agreement Relating to the Defense of Greenland |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2213493 |journal=The American Journal of International Law |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=129–134 |doi=10.2307/2213493 |jstor=2213493 |issn=0002-9300 }}

Rasmussen declined all three options, and returned to Denmark.{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=251}}{{sfn|Martin-Nielsen|2013|p=42}} He told United States ambassador Josiah Marvel, "[w]hile we owe much to America I do not feel that we owe them the whole island of Greenland".{{sfn|Lidegaard|2003|p=220}} The American offer surprised Rasmussen because of duplicity by Kauffmann, who with a friend at the United States Department of State advocated for an American presence in Greenland while not fully informing the Danish government.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=50}}{{sfn|Lidegaard|2003|p=220}} Kauffmann had minimized in his reports the importance of proposals of a takeover or purchase in the U.S. House of Representatives, saying that the idea was considered ridiculous by the U.S. government, when in fact it was not.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|pp=49–50}} He had also not conveyed important parts of a 1945 American proposal to keep its bases on the island after the war. Rasmussen visited Washington in 1946 expecting to annul the 1941 agreement, not understanding because of Kauffmann's duplicity why nothing had happened with the Danish government's previous overtures in that regard.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=50}}

Reporting on the United States military's interest in purchasing it, Time in January 1947 stated that Lansing had erred in relinquishing the American claim to "the world's largest island and stationary aircraft carrier". The magazine predicted that Greenland "would be as valuable as Alaska during the next few years" for defense. Time observed that despite national pride "Denmark owes U.S. investors $70 million" while the country had a shortage of dollars,{{Cite magazine |date=1947-01-27 |title=Deepfreeze Defense |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778870,00.html |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516124103/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778870,00.html |archive-date=2011-05-16 |access-date=2019-08-21 |url-status=dead |url-access=registration}}{{r|tbo20190910}} and rumors in Copenhagen stated that the price for the island would be $1 billion (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US-GDP|1|1947|r=0}}}} billion today), or almost four times Denmark's aid from the Marshall Plan.{{Cite web |url=https://nordics.info/show/artikel/buying-greenland-trump-truman-and-the-pearl-of-the-mediterranean/ |title=Buying Greenland? Trump, Truman and the 'Pearl of the Mediterranean' |last=Olesen |first=Thorsten Borring |date=2019-09-10 |website=nordics.info |publisher=Aarhus University |language=en |access-date=2019-09-14}}

Selling Greenland might have made a return to Denmark's traditional neutrality easier, and would have provided funds the country greatly needed after the war.{{r|tbo20190910}} All Danish political parties rejected selling the island when they heard the rumors, however.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=49}} Jens Sønderup said in a 1947 budget debate:{{blockquote|text=There have been rumours in the newspapers about America wishing to acquire Greenland. King Dollar is, so to speak, about to become a major factor in all areas. I am not aware of any approach concerning the purchase of Greenland, but assume that it is a given that we will not embark on anything in that respect. Should the Greenlanders desire another relationship or secession, that would be another matter, but in this respect there can be no question of any form of financial transaction.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|pp=49–50}}}}

Rasmussen responded in the debate that the idea was absurd, and declared Denmark unwilling in any way to cede sovereignty over Greenland.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=50}} The West Indies were only an investment to Danes, but from the Danish Golden Age of the 19th century they saw Danish overseas colonies in the North Atlantic, including Greenland, as part of their Viking history and national identity.{{Cite web |url=http://theconversation.com/how-donald-trumps-proposal-to-buy-greenland-really-went-down-in-denmark-122160 |title=How Donald Trump's proposal to buy Greenland really went down in Denmark |last=Wendel-Hansen |first=Jens Lei |website=The Conversation |date=August 23, 2019 |language=en |access-date=2019-09-03}} The island was for Denmark similar to the British Raj for the United Kingdom, and Danes felt a paternalistic, "White Man's Burden"-like responsibility for its people. While Greenland did not contribute to the Danish economy, Denmark planned to expand trade and resource extraction there.{{r|tbo20190910}}

By offering to purchase Greenland, the United States told Denmark that it was not likely to ever leave.{{r|breum20190823}}{{r|bbc20250111}}{{r|time20250123}} Denmark would not fully understand for another decade the island's strategic importance to the United States. The Danish government's own outlook on national security was more parochial, and did not extend to viewing Greenland as a part of that.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=51}} The legal status of the 1941 arrangement was unsettled, with the United States still pressing for purchase and Denmark rejecting the offer, leaving matters at the status quo ante until the 1960s.{{sfn|Lidegaard|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=251}}{{sfn|Beukel|2010|pp=51–52}}

After the November 1947 Danish Folketing election, the new government of Hans Hedtoft continued and expanded Kauffmann's strategy of duplicity.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=52}}

To the Danish public, it maintained that the United States would withdraw from Greenland as expected. To the United States the Hedtoft government stated that its own private position was that the American presence would remain. Its own private position was to persuade the United States to withdraw.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=52}}{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=252}} Kauffmann likewise continued with his own personal agenda.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=52}} The Danish government was not duplicitous on one point: It was not going to outright cede Greenland to a foreign power.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=52}}{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=252}}

Marvel told Rasmussen that he should not do anything that would lead to the disclosure of anything that had transpired in Rasmussen's meeting with Byrnes.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|p=51}} The Danish government kept the American interest secret from the public, as part of its own strategy.{{sfn|Heymann|Nielsen|Nielsen|Knudsen|2015|p=252}} The 1947 offer was classified until the 1970s, and Jyllands-Posten reported on it in 1991.

File:327th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Convair F-102A-75-CO Delta Dagger 56-1360.jpg interceptor at Thule Air Base, 1958]]

A scholar wrote in 1950 that, despite official denials of the rumors of an American purchase, because of Greenland's large expense to Denmark and strategic importance, "the potential sale of the island to the United States remains a distinct possibility".{{r|plischke1950}}

Postwar Denmark was not able to defend Greenland, an ice-covered island 50 times larger than itself.{{r|duke1989}}{{r|detsch20250109}}{{r|politico20250110}}{{r|bbc20250111}} In April 1951 Denmark and the United States signed the Greenland Defense Agreement. Replacing the 1941 agreement, it allows the latter country to keep its military bases in Greenland, and to establish new bases or "defense areas" if deemed necessary by NATO. The American military can freely use and move between these defense areas, but cannot infringe upon Danish sovereignty in Greenland. The agreement remains in force as long as the NATO treaty does.{{sfn|Beukel|2010|pp=54–57}}{{Cite web|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/den001.asp#art2para3M|title = Avalon Project – Defense of Greenland: Agreement Between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark, April 27, 1951}} Denmark recognized that without the agreement Greenland would become closer to the United States anyway, whether as a nominally independent country or with a Puerto Rico-like affiliation.{{Cite news |url=http://www.weekendavisen.dk/content/item/21594 |title=Et kig ned i afgrunden |last=Breitenbauch |first=Henrik |date=2019-08-22 |work=Weekendavisen |access-date=2019-08-25 |page=8 |language=da}} The Pentagon told president Dwight Eisenhower that the Danes were "very cooperative in allowing the United States quite a free hand in Greenland". A Danish scholar later wrote that his country's sovereignty over the island during the Cold War was fictional, with the United States holding de facto sovereignty.{{r|tbo20190910}} The BBC wrote that the 1951 agreement "in effect, gave the US whatever it wanted".{{r|bbc20250111}} In 1955 the Joint Chiefs nonetheless proposed to Eisenhower that the nation again try to purchase Greenland, writing that "sovereignty provides the firmest basis of assuring that a territory and its resources will be available for military use when needed. United States sovereignty over Greenland would remove any doubt as to the unconditional availability of bases".{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Colin |date=2025-01-15 |title=In eyeing Greenland, Trump is echoing long-held American designs on the Arctic expanse |url=https://theconversation.com/in-eyeing-greenland-trump-is-echoing-long-held-american-designs-on-the-arctic-expanse-247276 |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}

Circa 1953 in Operation Blue Jay the United States built Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.{{cite journal |last1=Petersen |first1=Nikolaj |title=SAC at Thule: Greenland in U.S. Polar Strategy |journal=Journal of Cold War Studies | date=Spring 2011 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=90–115 |doi=10.1162/JCWS_a_00138 }} From 1959 the island was part of NORAD.{{r|jgp20201019}} Thule employed more than 1,000 Greenlanders{{r|duke1989}} and had almost 10,000 American personnel. It and about 50 other American bases{{Cite news |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/groenland-trump-absage-staatsbesuch-1.4572515 |title=Grönland – "Trump, der Immobilienhai" |last=Blatz |first=Anika |date=2019-08-22 |work=Süddeutsche Zeitung |access-date=2019-09-01 |language=de}} performed duties such as tracking Soviet submarines in the GIUK gap.{{Cite web |url=https://warontherocks.com/2019/08/lets-not-make-a-deal-geopolitics-and-greenland/ |title=Let's (Not) Make a Deal: Geopolitics and Greenland |last=Rahbek-Clemmensen |first=Jon |date=2019-08-28 |website=War on the Rocks |language=en-US |access-date=2019-09-03}} Camp Century was an experiment in polar engineering that presaged colonization of the Moon. The canceled Project Iceworm would have deployed 600 Minuteman missiles under the ice.{{r|jmn201402}}

As the Portuguese empire shrank, the Danish empire, with Greenland, became the world's largest.{{r|sulzberger19750818}} During the 1970s, vice president Nelson Rockefeller suggested buying Greenland for mining.{{Cite magazine |last=O'Donnell |first=Michael |date=2015-02-04 |title=Fortune's Son |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/fortunes-son/ |magazine=The Nation |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378 |access-date=2019-08-21}} The proposal was first publicly reported in 1982 by Rockefeller's speechwriter Joseph E. Persico in his book The Imperial Rockefeller.{{cite news |title=Did Rockefeller Want Greenland as a State? |via=newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/178759535/ |access-date=August 21, 2019 |work=Minneapolis Star | date=February 18, 1982}}{{subscription required}} Writing in 1975, C.L. Sulzberger affirmed that it was the general American position that Greenland "must be covered by the Monroe Doctrine" and opined it was impossible for the island to function independently, stating that "25 percent of the islanders suffer from venereal disease".{{Cite news |last=Sulzberger |first=C.L. |date=August 18, 1975 |title=Greatest Empire Left |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-greatest-empire/163155804/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |pages=29 |agency=New York Times News Service}} In 1990, Patrick Buchanan suggested that American expansion to include Greenland was "not so wild a dream" and only required "patience".{{cite news |last1=Buchanan |first1=Patrick |title=The Strain of Ethnic Tensions Here and Abroad |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/545576014/ |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=North Adams Transcript |agency=Creator's Syndicate |date=July 3, 1990}}

United States interest abruptly declined after the Cold War;{{r|blatz20190822}} the NORAD radars were abandoned, "though Thule, the United States’ northernmost air base houses the ...network of sensors, which provides early missile warning and space surveillance and control".{{r|jgp20201019}} and since 2004 Thule has been the only United States base, with a few hundred Americans.{{r|reuters20190821}} Post-Cold War United States disinterest in the island reportedly disappointed many Greenlanders;{{r|blatz20190822}} as late as 2004, proposals for American funding of climate research and scholarships did not succeed.{{Cite news |last1=Mouritzen |first1=Kristian |last2=Kruse |first2=Simon |date=2019-11-02 |title=USA har forberedt sig på Grønlands selvstændighed i mange år: »Der spilles et uklædeligt dobbeltspil« |language=da |work=Berlingske |url=https://www.berlingske.dk/content/item/1415204 |access-date=2022-05-12}}

The United States, Russia, and China increased their attention to Greenland and Arctic geopolitics in the early 21st century.{{r|reuters20190821}}{{r|blatz20190822}} American secretary of state Hillary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov attended the 2010 Arctic five meeting.{{r|mouritzen20191102}} Rasmus Nielsen said in 2019, "The last couple of years we can see a bigger focus and also involvement that the U.S. wants to have [in Greenland]. You can feel that the U.S. is really waking up to Arctic reality—partly because of Russia, partly because of China".{{r|northam20191124}}

File:U.S. Consulate Nuuk.jpg

American ambassador to Denmark James P. Cain wrote in 2007 that Greenlandic independence was inevitable. His country had the opportunity to influence the structure of a new nation so should prepare by directly communicating with Greenland as the island gains autonomy. Ongoing American educational, cultural, and scientific programs strengthened relations with the future country and kept China out, Cain wrote.{{r|mouritzen20191102}}{{r|schreckinger20250110}}

The island is still important to American and NATO security;{{r|jones2016}} Walter Berbrick of the Naval War College said in 2019, "Whoever holds Greenland will hold the Arctic. It's the most important strategic location in the Arctic and perhaps the world".{{Cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/24/trump-buy-greenland-1474349 |title=Trump's Greenland gambit finds allies inside government |last=Lippman |first=Daniel |date=2019-08-24 |work=Politico |access-date=2019-08-24 |language=en}} The United States emphasizes Greenland's North American geography,{{r|mouritzen20191102}} and American diplomatic and military officials and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) often visit the island.{{Cite news |last=Northam |first=Jackie |date=2019-11-24 |title=Greenland Is Not For Sale. But It Has Rare Earth Minerals America Wants |language=en |publisher=All Things Considered, NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/24/781598549/greenland-is-not-for-sale-but-it-has-the-rare-earth-minerals-america-wants |access-date=2020-07-05}} In 2018 the Americans reestablished the United States Second Fleet, responsible for the North Atlantic;{{r|reuters20190821}} Berbrick proposed basing the fleet in Greenland,{{Cite magazine |last1=Berbrick |first1=Walter |last2=Pincus |first2=Rebecca |date=2018-09-22 |title=10 Big Ideas to 'Up America's Game in the Arctic' |url=https://nationalinterest.org/feature/10-big-ideas-%E2%80%98-america%E2%80%99s-game-arctic%E2%80%99-31622 |magazine=The National Interest |language=en}} and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood signed an agreement to invest in dual-use infrastructure. Henrik Breitenbauch of the University of Copenhagen said that the agreement, which Greenland welcomed, was part of increasing American emphasis on defending North America.{{Cite web |url=https://www.arctictoday.com/china-us-strategic-designs-greenland/ |title=China and the US both have strategic designs for Greenland |last=Breum |first=Martin |date=2018-10-17 |website=Arctic Today |language=en-US |access-date=2019-08-25}} The island could be where the United States builds the new strategic Arctic port that the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 mandates.{{r|jrc20190828}}

In 2019, Greenland asked the United States for an aerial survey. Planned before but occurring after the Trump administration purchase proposal, the United States Navy used hyperspectral imaging over Garðar and the USGS interpreted the data to search for mineral resources.{{Cite news |last=Browning |first=Noah |date=2019-10-11 |title=U.S. and Greenland partner to map Greenland's resources |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-greenland-minerals-idUSKBN1WP369 |access-date=2020-07-05}} Greenland, in April 2020, accepted a $12.1 million American grant. In December 2019, Denmark approved a Trump administration request for a consulate in Greenland. Opened during World War II and closed in 1953, the consulate reopened in June 2020,{{Cite news |date=2020-06-11 |title=U.S. opens consulate in Greenland, months after Trump attempt to buy the territory rejected |language=en-CA |work=National Post |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/trump-opens-consulate-in-greenland-months-after-u-s-attempt-to-buy-the-territory-rejected |access-date=2020-07-05}}{{Cite news |url=https://apnews.com/5119c18eba764c98b1ccb988f2b59bb5 |title=US to open Greenland consulate amid increased interest |last=Mascaro |first=Lisa |date=2019-08-24 |access-date=2019-08-25 |work=Associated Press}} a day after the administration announced that it would build a new icebreaker fleet. Nick Solheim of the Wallace Institute for Arctic Security said that the two acts "are the most monumental things we’ve done in Arctic policy in the last 40 years".{{Cite web |last=Cammarata |first=Sarah |date=2020-06-10 |title=U.S. reopens consulate in Greenland amid White House's Arctic push |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/10/us-reopens-greenland-consulate-310885 |access-date=2020-07-06 |website=Politico |language=en}}

Since 2019, during his first term and increasingly since being elected for his second term, Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted the claim that the United States should be in control of Greenland.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-07 |title=What does Donald Trump want with Greenland? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/politics-explained/donald-trump-greenland-don-jr-nuuk-b2675377.html |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-06 |title=Donald Trump Jr arrives in Greenland after dad says US should own territory |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yv10knyd9o |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}} He reportedly views a Greater United States as both vital to national security, and a way to strengthen his historical legacy as president akin to how predecessor William McKinley acquired new territory for the United States.{{r|reuters20250108}}

File:President Trump Meets with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark (49170427867).jpg's (left) remarks that called the possibility of purchasing Greenland "absurd".{{Cite news |last=Rostrup |first=Ask |date=7 January 2025 |title=Opgøret om Grønland – en skæbnestund for SVM-regeringen |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/politik/2025-01-07-opgoeret-om-groenland-en-skaebnestund-for-svm-regeringen |access-date=7 January 2025 |work=TV 2}}]]

Trump reportedly discussed acquiring Greenland since 2017.{{Cite news |last1=Holland |first1=Steve |last2=Slattery |first2=Gram |last3=Reid |first3=Tim |date=2025-01-08 |title=Trump looks to Greenland to cement his legacy and expand sphere of US influence |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-looks-greenland-cement-his-legacy-expand-sphere-us-influence-2025-01-09/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |work=Reuters}} During his first presidency, Ron Lauder suggested to Trump that the United States purchase Greenland and offered to act as a back channel to the Danish government. Trump later claimed the idea was his personal inspiration, and tasked National Security Advisor John Bolton to study it. Bolton tasked Fiona Hill to work on the proposal, assembled a small team to discuss options, and engaged in secret talks with Denmark's ambassador. Trump repeatedly suggested taking federal money for Puerto Rico to buy Greenland, and discussed trading the island for the territory. Trump later told New York Times journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser in an interview for their book, The Divider, that he was enamored by the deal for the size of the island, and thought it was a great real estate deal that would secure his place in history.{{Cite news |last=Baker |first=Peter |date=September 14, 2022 |title=Cosmetics Billionaire Convinced Trump That the U.S. Should Buy Greenland |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/us/politics/trump-greenland.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 7, 2024 |issn=0362-4331 }}{{Cite news |last=Panetta |first=Grace |date=September 15, 2022 |title=Trump became fixated on buying Greenland after a billionaire cosmetics heir friend suggested the idea, book says |work=Business Insider |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/estee-lauder-heir-pitched-trump-plan-to-buy-greenland-book-2022-9 |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 7, 2024 }}

Trump discussed the idea of purchasing Greenland with senior advisers{{cite news |title=Greenland: Trump warned that island cannot be bought from Denmark |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49367792 |work=BBC News | date=August 16, 2019 |access-date=August 16, 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Hart |first1=Benjamin |title=Report: Trump, Who Is the President, Wants to Buy Greenland |url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/08/president-trump-wants-to-buy-greenland-report.html |access-date=August 16, 2019 |work=New York | date=August 2019}} and Senator Tom Cotton, who proposed buying the island to Danish ambassador Lars Gert Lose in August 2018.{{Cite news |last=Wu |first=Nicholas |date=2019-08-22 |title=Sen. Tom Cotton says he suggested Trump buy Greenland and met with Danish ambassador |language=en-US |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/22/tom-cotton-proposed-greenland-sale-trump-met-denmark-report/2081531001/ |access-date=2020-07-12}}{{r|tbp20190821}} Australian geologist Greg Barnes discussed the island's rare earths with 20 administration officials at the White House in July 2019.{{Cite news |last=Greber |first=Jacob |date=2021-04-01 |title=How a Perth geologist convinced Trump to buy Greenland |language=en |work=Australian Financial Review |url=https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/how-a-perth-geologist-convinced-trump-to-buy-greenland-20210330-p57f96 |access-date=2021-04-28}} Supporters of an acquisition, including the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, reportedly discussed expanding American partnership with the island, including a possible purchase. One official stated that the United States can subsidize Greenland for much more than Denmark can;{{r|lippman20190824}} {{as of|2020|01|lc=y}} the subsidy is less than the annual budget of El Paso, Texas.{{Cite journal |last=Chapman |first=Jacob |date=2020-01-01 |title=Greenland: America's New Strategic Imperative |url=https://www.thelondonglobalist.org/greenland-americas-new-strategic-imperative/ |journal=The London Globalist |language=en-GB |publisher=The London School of Economics |access-date=2020-07-06}} Cotton said that he suggested the purchase to the president because of the island's importance to American national security and great economic potential.{{Cite web |date=2019-08-21 |title=Sen. Cotton says he asked Danish ambassador about selling Greenland |url=https://talkbusiness.net/2019/08/sen-cotton-says-he-asked-danish-ambassador-about-selling-greenland/ |access-date=2020-07-12 |website=Talk Business & Politics |language=en-US}}

When the Wall Street Journal reported on Trump's discussions in August 2019, Premier of Greenland Kim Kielsen, Greenland's minister of foreign affairs Ane Lone Bagger, Greenlandic representatives in the Parliament of Denmark, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, previous prime minister and opposition leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and members of other parties all rejected a sale. Statements ranged from simple diplomatic comments to strong refusals calling the idea of a sale of Greenland and its people "completely ridiculous". Some suggested that Trump's proposal had to be a joke.{{cite news |author=Sorensen, M.S. |date=16 August 2019 |title='Greenland Is Not for Sale': Trump's Talk of a Purchase Draws Derision |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/16/world/europe/trump-greenland.html |work=New York Times |access-date=21 August 2019}} Frederiksen, already in Greenland, said "This is an absurd discussion"{{r|breum20190823}} as "Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic".{{Cite news |url=https://sermitsiaq.ag/node/215476 |title=Mette Frederiksen: Grønland er ikke til salg |last=JØRGENSEN |first=TRINE JUNCHER |date=2019-08-18 |work=Sermitsiaq |access-date=2019-09-01 |language=da}}{{r|overgaard20190831}} The prime minister emphasized Denmark's desire to continue close Denmark–United States relations, stating that she was open to increasing the American military presence.{{r|breum20190823}}

On 20 August 2019, Trump canceled a planned state visit of the United States to Denmark over Frederiksen's remarks rejecting the possibility of a sale.{{cite news |title=Trump cancels Denmark visit over Greenland sale spat |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49416740 |work=BBC News | date=August 20, 2019 |access-date=August 20, 2019}} The cancellation came shortly after Carla Sands, the American ambassador, tweeted that "Denmark is ready for the POTUS @realDonaldTrump visit! Partner, ally, friend" and reportedly surprised and bewildered the Danish government.{{cite news |last1=Sorensen |first1=Martin Selsoe |title=In Denmark, Bewilderment and Anger Over Trump's Canceled Visit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/world/europe/greenland-denmark-trump.html |access-date=August 21, 2019 |work=The New York Times | date=August 21, 2019}} The Danish government quickly communicated its support of American policy, including in the Arctic;{{r|tbo20190910}} the following day, Frederiksen invited "stronger cooperation" with the United States on Arctic affairs.{{cite news |title=Danish PM says cancellation of Trump visit won't hurt good U.S. relations |url=https://www.reuters.com/video/2019/08/21/danish-pm-says-cancellation-of-trump-vis?videoId=590254478 |access-date=August 21, 2019 |work=Reuters | date=August 21, 2019}} After reiterating that Greenland was not for sale, Frederiksen repeated her statement about the importance of the United States alliance in English to ensure that American officials heard her words.{{r|breum20190823}} The Danish attempt to placate the larger country apparently worked;{{r|tbo20190910}} later that day, United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo phoned Danish foreign minister Jeppe Kofod, praising the Danish–American cooperation in the Arctic region and the alliance between the two countries. Both also confirmed their intentions of strengthening the cooperation in the region.{{cite news |author1=Vilsbøll, S.M. |author2=Ritzau |date=22 August 2019 |title=USA's udenrigsminister har taget en snak med Jeppe Kofod |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/usas-udenrigsminister-har-taget-en-snak-med-jeppe-kofod |language=Danish |trans-title=USA's secretary of state has talked to Jeppe Kofod |publisher=DR News |access-date=22 August 2019}}{{cite web |author=Office of the Spokesperson |date=21 August 2019 |title=Secretary Pompeo's Call with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Jeppe Kofod |url=https://www.state.gov/secretary-pompeos-call-with-minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-denmark-jeppe-kofod/ |publisher=US Department of State |access-date=22 August 2019}} Danish analyst Kristian Mouritzen said that Pompeo helped Frederiksen "smooth things out with Trump", averting what was "becoming a very big problem for Denmark".{{Cite news |last1=Elabdi |first1=Florian |last2=Hudson |first2=John |date=2020-07-22 |title=No discussion of buying Greenland, but Pompeo underscores U.S. interest in the Arctic during Denmark trip |language=en |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pompeo-greenland-arctic/2020/07/22/754947cc-cb6b-11ea-99b0-8426e26d203b_story.html |access-date=2020-07-26}}

A diplomat in Beijing said that Trump was likely thinking of China when he offered to purchase Greenland.{{r|scmp20190901}} The president's interest showed that "the United States does not intend to leave ... which Greenland can do nothing about. Neither can Denmark" since 1941, Bo Lidegaard said. "That's just how it is in a world where ultimately the strongest are the ones to decide", with China and Russia worse alternatives, he added.{{Cite news |url=https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/ekspert-usa-er-kommet-blive-alternativerne-er-v%C3%A6rre |title=Ekspert: USA er kommet for at blive – alternativerne er værre |last1=Sørensen |first1=Helle Nørrelund Sørensen |date=2019-08-26 |access-date=2019-09-02 |publisher=Kalaalit Nunaata Radioa |last2=Betak |first2=Jens |language=da}} Andreas Bøje Forsby of the University of Copenhagen said that Trump's interest was "a very clear signal to both China and Denmark that Greenland is part of an exclusive American strategic zone".{{r|scmp20190901}} Admiral {{ill|Nils Wang|da}}, former head of the Royal Danish Navy, said "Trump's approach may be wacky but it does send a serious message to Russia and China—don't mess with us on Greenland. This is a complete game-changer".{{Cite news |url=https://nypost.com/2019/08/24/trumps-wacky-desire-to-buy-greenland-sends-a-serious-message-to-russia-china/ |title=Why Trump's desire to buy Greenland could actually be a 'game-changer' |last=Levine |first=Jon |date=2019-08-25 |work=New York Post |access-date=2019-08-27 |language=en}}

American purchase supporters do not mention the Greenlandic independence movement in official documents to avoid annoying the Danish.{{r|lippman20190824}} Because the island can declare independence, it can affiliate with the United States. "The only way Trump would be able to buy Greenland would be to give them an offer they couldn't turn down", Ulrik Pram Gad of Aalborg University said.{{r|reuters20190821}} Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen of the Royal Danish Defence College predicted difficult negotiations for Denmark. He expected the island to seek diplomatic and financial benefits from Denmark and the United States, and Greenland and the United States possibly to negotiate bilaterally.{{Cite web |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2019/09/12/so-you-want-to-buy-98-per-cent-of-our-territory-a-danish-perspective-on-american-danish-greenlandic-relations/ |title=So, you want to buy 98 per cent of our territory? A Danish perspective on American-Danish-Greenlandic relations |last=Rahbek-Clemmensen |first=Jon |date=2019-09-12 |website=EUROPP |publisher=London School of Economics |language=en-US |access-date=2019-09-14}} Agreeing that they should negotiate without Denmark, The London Globalist suggested that "The United States should make clear that ... this [subsidy] will be enlarged enormously, however blunt and unseemly this instrument may be".{{r|chapman20200101}}

Islanders could use the possibility of American affiliation when negotiating with Denmark, said Thorsten Borring Olesen of Aarhus University.{{r|tbo20190910}} Poul Krarup, editor-in-chief of Sermitsiaq, said that the American interest started a new domestic debate that might result in the island becoming more autonomous or independent from Denmark. He said that Greenlanders do not want to sell to the United States but want to cooperate as an equal partner, suggesting that Trump visit the island instead of Denmark to negotiate. While a majority of Greenlanders prefer Denmark to the United States, most prefer the latter to China.{{r|blatz20190822}} Another Greenlander hoped that Trump's interest would cause Denmark to "wake up and show Greenland some respect. A lot of Danes think everyone here is just a drunk Inuit. But now that America wants to buy us, maybe they can see there is much of value here".{{r|levine20190824}} A third said that "for hundreds of years [Danes] earned many, many billions of kroner from Greenland" while neglecting Greenlanders, and hoped that the American attention would give them more power when negotiating with Denmark.{{r|overgaard20190831}}

Krarup said that Greenlanders were also angry at Denmark for discussing Greenland without them. While Trump needed to "change [his] attitude", Krarup hoped that the president's interest would change the island's political situation.{{r|blatz20190822}} Among Greenlandic politicians, Folketing MP Aaja Chemnitz Larsen said that the Danish government was already treating her island differently because of Trump. Frederiksen's "Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic" statement was, Gad said, the first time a Danish prime minister said that the island had some control over foreign or security issues.{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/08/31/756323267/greenland-looks-to-seize-a-spotlight-moment |title=Greenland Looks To Seize A Spotlight Moment |last=Overgaard |first=Sidsel |date=2019-08-31 |work=All Things Considered |access-date=2019-09-01 |publisher=NPR News |language=en}} Pele Broberg of Partii Naleraq stated that with the American willingness to replace the Danish subsidy, Greenland had an alternative to Danish disinterest in Greenlandic independence. While rejecting a purchase he said that Denmark was not better than the United States, which already can do what it wants in Greenland. He proposed that the island begin the process in Danish law of becoming independent, and negotiate directly with the United States for American military and financial support.{{Cite press release |title=TIDEN ER INDE |date=2019-08-29 |publisher=Parti Naleraq |url=https://naleraq.gl/da/seneste-nyheder/tiden-er-inde/ |language=da |last1=Broberg |first1=Pele |access-date=2019-08-31}}{{Cite news |url=https://sermitsiaq.ag/node/215721 |title=Pele: Vil USA hjælpe os til frihed fra Danmark? |last=Turnowsky |first=Walter |date=2019-08-29 |work=Sermitsiaq |access-date=2019-11-18 |language=da}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.berlingske.dk/content/item/1399206 |title=Trumps købstilbud baner en ny vej for Grønlands selvstændighed |last=Broberg |first=Pele |date=2019-09-10 |work=Berlingske Tidende |access-date=2019-09-11 |language=da}} {{ill|Steen Lynge|da}} of the Democrats agreed, stating that Greenland should use Trump's offer to become independent of the Danish subsidy.{{r|tmv20190902}}

File:Vittus_Qujaukitsoq_(2016).jpg (pictured) was accused by Danish MP Søren Espersen of bypassing Denmark and engaging in secret negotiations with U.S. officials over the future of the island.]]

Tillie Martinussen of the Cooperation Party disagreed with replacing the Danish subsidy with another country's, and warned of risks to the island's education and health care with a United States affiliation.{{Cite web |url=https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/naleraq-forhandlinger-med-usa-skal-unders%C3%B8ges |title=Naleraq: Forhandlinger med USA skal undersøges |last=Viral |first=Thomas Munk |website=KNR |language=da |access-date=2019-09-04}} Describing Broberg's proposal as inappropriate, Siumut stated that Greenland needed to become independent without any subsidy, and that the island should cooperate more with Denmark and the United States. The Atassut Party said that remaining within the Danish Kingdom was preferable, with the subsidy, other Danish assistance, and Folketing representation among benefits Greenland would lose with an American affiliation.{{Cite web |url=https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/siumut-om-naleraqs-tiln%C3%A6rmelse-til-usa-det-er-upassende |title=Siumut om Naleraqs tilnærmelse til USA: Det er upassende |last=Brøns |first=Malik |website=KNR |language=da |access-date=2019-09-06}} Søren Espersen of the Danish People's Party called Broberg naive for wanting to leave the kingdom, stating that "the United States will swallow Greenland in a single mouthful" after independence and would not replace the Danish subsidy. Former foreign minister Martin Lidegaard of the Danish Social Liberal Party also advised against Greenland negotiating for an American subsidy, as "the United States is not a type of nation that gives something for free".{{Cite web |url=https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/danske-politikere-naivt-s%C3%B8ge-selvst%C3%A6ndighed-gennem-usa |title=Danske politikere: Naivt at søge selvstændighed gennem USA |last=Sørensen |first=Helle Nørrelund |website=KNR |language=da |access-date=2019-09-06}} Aqqaluk Lynge—former head of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference—opposed affiliating with the United States, describing the offer as an attack on Danish sovereignty and Greenlandic independence.{{Cite web |url=https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/kritiske-r%C3%B8ster-maner-til-besindighed-om-usa-indflydelse |title=Kritiske røster maner til besindighed om USA-indflydelse |last=Betak |first=Jens |date=2019-09-03 |website=KNR |language=da |access-date=2019-09-04}}

Islanders hoped that the publicity from Trump's interest would increase outside investment and tourism in Greenland.{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-greenland-idUSKCN1VH1AB |title=In spotlight after Trump offer, Greenland sees chance for an economic win |last=Gronholt-Pedersen |first=Jacob |date=2019-08-27 |work=Reuters |access-date=2019-08-31 |language=en}} A real-estate company in Nuuk reported that international inquiries rose from one or two a year to 10 in the week after Trump's proposal.{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-trump-bump-is-turning-up-the-heat-on-greenlands-real-estate-market-11569515472 |title=A Trump Bump Is Turning Up the Heat on Greenland's Real-Estate Market |last=Taylor |first=Candace |date=2019-09-26 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=2019-10-19 |language=en-US}} Krarup said that the president had "done us a service; he has made Greenland known throughout the world. The best advertisement we could get". The island needs American investment and subsidy for airports, roads, and United States air routes, Krarup said, which would also make Greenland more independent from Denmark.{{r|blatz20190822}} After the president joked that he would not build a Trump Tower there, Nordic travel agencies saw significantly more interest in tourism on the island;{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/greenland-americans-booking-vacations-trnd/index.html |title=As Trump ponders buying Greenland, Americans are eyeing their next vacation spot |last=Trammell |first=Kendall |date=2019-08-22 |publisher=CNN |language=en |access-date=2019-08-26}}{{r|breum20190823}} Krarup said that Greenlanders enjoyed the joke and interpreted it as Trump saying that he does not want to destroy Greenlandic culture.{{r|blatz20190822}} Greenland's tourism bureau listed Trump's offer and previous American interest in the island on its website.{{Cite web |url=https://visitgreenland.com/american-interest-in-greenland/ |title=American Interest in Greenland – a historic perspective |website=Visit Greenland |language=en-US |access-date=2019-08-27}}

Martin Lidegaard,{{r|knr20190904}} Weekendavisen,{{r|krasnik20190822}} Breitenbauch,{{r|breitenbauch20190822}} and Hans Mouritzen of the Danish Institute for International Studies were among those who said that Trump forced Denmark to not ignore Greenland as usual, and imagine the two apart.{{Cite news |url=https://www.altinget.dk/arktis/artikel/diis-forsker-trump-aflysning-er-et-wake-up-call-for-dansk-udenrigspolitik |title=DIIS-forsker: Trump-aflysning er et wakeupcall for dansk udenrigspolitik |last=Mouritzen |first=Hans |date=2019-08-26 |work=Altinget |access-date=2019-09-02 |language=da}} Kielsen and Frederiksen likely will support additional American bases;{{r|breum20190823}} Breitenbauch said that because the United States is his country's most important security partner, he described as a nightmare for Denmark the possibility of Trump demanding it choose between fulfilling the Wales Summit Declaration of defense spending as 2% of GDP, or keeping Greenland.{{r|breitenbauch20190822}}{{r|mouritzen20190826}} Whether the island is independent or affiliated with Denmark or America, Breitenbauch said, the United States would continue military supremacy and to restrict foreign investments that affect national security.{{r|breitenbauch20190822}}

Reopening its consulate increased American influence on islanders,{{r|tbo20190910}} and was consistent with Cain's 2007 proposal for directly communicating with Greenland.{{r|mouritzen20191102}} Vice President of the United States Mike Pence said that reopening it was "the culmination of the administration's efforts to strengthen our engagement in the Arctic region".{{r|np20200611}} Larsen said in October 2019 that the consulate was part of "a massive charm offensive from the US and 'soft power' in diplomacy", and that because of Danish neglect of its responsibilities in Greenland, a majority on the island might support American annexation in five to ten years.{{Cite news |url=https://sermitsiaq.ag/node/216855 |title=Chefredatøren anbefaler: Kampen om de grønlandske hjerter |last=Qvist |first=Niels Ole |date=2019-10-19 |work=Sermitsiaq |access-date=2019-11-18 |language=da}} Espersen in November accused Greenlandic finance minister Vittus Qujaukitsoq of secret bilateral negotiations with American officials, defying Danish authority over foreign and security policy. As part of the "American charm offensive" ambassadors since Cain in 2007 had, Espersen said, "methodically prepared for the day when Greenland declares itself independently—so that the US could move in on the island at the same time". He asked Greenland to choose between Denmark and the United States.{{Cite news |url=https://jyllands-posten.dk/debat/breve/ECE11727933/det-maa-vaere-slut-med-uklaedeligt-dobbeltspil-groenland-maa-vaelge-side-danmark-eller-usa/ |title=Grønlandskenderen Søren Espersen: Det må være slut med uklædeligt dobbeltspil: Grønland må vælge side – Danmark eller USA |last=Espersen |first=Søren |date=2019-11-09 |work=Jyllands-Posten |access-date=2019-11-18 |language=da}} Qujaukitsoq denied the claim and said that his schedule of American meetings was public. While criticizing Espersen for distrusting the island's officials, Martin Lidegaard said that the United States had "aggressive interest in ... Greenland and the Arctic".{{Cite news |url=https://politiken.dk/udland/art7471652/Stigende-dansk-frygt-for-USA%E2%80%99s-omfattende-charmeoffensiv-i-Gr%C3%B8nland |title=Stigende dansk frygt for USA's omfattende charmeoffensiv i Grønland |last1=Svendsen |first1=Jacob |date=2019-11-03 |work=Politiken |access-date=2019-11-18 |last2=Skov |first2=Sven Helms |language=da-DK}}

During a 2021 interview, Trump said that following The Wall Street Journal's public leak of the proposal in August 2019, the Danish government "lost their political courage". Tom Dans, a Trump appointee to the United States Arctic Research Commission, said in 2025 that he worked on Greenland until the last day of the first Trump administration.{{r|schreckinger20250110}}

File:Trump repeat of US need to take control of Greenland raises concerns, stirs debate.opus coverage of Donald Trump's desire to acquire Greenland at the beginning of his second presidency in January 2025{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xO6F-X4UbQ |title=Trump repeat of US need to take control of Greenland raises concerns, stirs debate |date=2025-01-21 |publisher=Voice of America |access-date=2025-01-21 |via=YouTube}}]]

The Biden administration encouraged Western mining investment in Greenland. In 2024, American and Danish officials repeatedly told geologist Barnes's company Tanbreez Mining, developer of the island's largest rare-earths deposit, not to sell the project to Chinese developers. Tanbreez sold the project to Critical Metals of the United States, reportedly for much less than what the Chinese offered. The U.S. pressure is akin to similar American efforts to block Chinese influence in Africa's copperbelt.{{Cite news |last1=Burton |first1=Melanie |last2=Scheyder |first2=Ernest |date=2025-01-10 |title=US lobbied Greenland rare earths developer Tanbreez not to sell to China |url=https://www.arctictoday.com/us-lobbied-greenland-rare-earths-developer-tanbreez-not-to-sell-to-china/ |access-date=2025-01-13 |language=en-US |via=ArcticToday |agency=Reuters}}

A week before the Trump's re-election in November 2024, Nick Solheim of American Moment, a group preparing for the transition, said that the proposal had been serious. He reportedly cited the Homestead Act, implying that the government would encourage American settlement of the island.{{r|schreckinger20250110}}

Shortly after the election, Trump ally Representative Mike Collins posted a picture of Greenland in an electoral-college map as voting Republican in "Project 2029", suggesting Trump would make another bid to purchase Greenland during his second term.{{cite web |last1=Nicholls |first1=Flynn |title=Donald Trump Ally Suggests Trying to Purchase Greenland Again |url=https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-ally-suggests-trying-purchase-greenland-again-1982720 |website=Newsweek |date=November 8, 2024 |access-date=8 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206215831/https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-ally-suggests-trying-purchase-greenland-again-1982720 |archive-date=6 December 2024}} "Buying Greenland" appeared on a list of foreign policy goals that the incoming administration prepared after the election,{{r|reuters20250108}} and the transition team began discussing business opportunities in Greenland with private industry,{{r|bloomberg20250109}} including Critical Metals.{{r|reuters20250110}} Gad said that Greenland had discussed their relationship with the two previous American administrations and was aware that "the US will never leave".{{r|bbc20250111}}

On December 22, 2024, Trump posted to Truth Social that the United States' "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity", citing reasons of "national security" and "freedom throughout the world".{{Cite tweet |author=The American Conservative|author-link= |user=amconmag |number=1871014834759745588 |date=December 22, 2024|title=Some are asking if this is real. It is. We pulled it straight from President-elect Trump's Truth Social account. Posted at 5:11 ET Sunday evening.|script-title= |trans-title= |language= |retweet= |location= |access-date=December 22, 2024 |link=https://x.com/amconmag/status/1871014834759745588 |quote= |ref=}}{{Cite web |last=Ray |first=Siladitya |title=Trump Says US Should Take Ownership Of Greenland And Threatens Panama Canal Takeover |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/12/23/trump-says-us-should-take-ownership-of-greenland-and-threatens-to-takeover-panama-canal/?utm_source=Whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Forbes |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Leary |first1=Alex |title=Trump Threatens to Take Control of Panama Canal, Greenland |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/trump-threatens-to-take-control-of-panama-canal-staple-of-global-economy-fdb3ef37 |access-date=December 22, 2024 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=December 22, 2024}} He did so while announcing the appointment of Ken Howery as ambassador to Denmark; Howery previously served as United States ambassador to Sweden.{{r|politiken20241223}} Donald Trump's son Eric Trump, in a post on X with the caption "We are so back!!!", showed map outlines of the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada as items in an Amazon shopping cart, along with an image of his father looking at his phone with the same screen open.{{Cite web |author=Dan Gooding |date=2024-12-24 |title=Eric Trump's post about buying other countries on Amazon goes viral |url=https://www.newsweek.com/eric-trump-post-buying-countries-amazon-panama-canal-canada-greenland-2005873 |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=Newsweek |language=en}} Responding to these statements, Greenlandic premier Múte Bourup Egede wrote: "Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom".{{Cite web |date=2025-01-07 |title=Why does Donald Trump want to buy Greenland? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-buy-greenland-denmark-b2675291.html |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=The Independent |language=en}} Denmark's Frederiksen repeated her comments from 2019. Danish minister of defense Troels Lund Poulsen, following Trump's comments, announced an increase in spending on defense in Greenland of a "double-digit billion amount" in Krone (between $876mn and $8.7bn USD).{{Cite web |title=Denmark to boost defence spending for Greenland after Trump repeats call for US control |url=https://news.sky.com/story/denmark-to-boost-defence-spending-for-greenland-after-trump-repeats-call-for-us-control-13279706 |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Sky News |language=en}}

{{Multiple image

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| caption1 = Former Royal Arms of Denmark until December 2024

| caption2 = Royal Arms of Denmark from December 2024, featuring Greenland and the Faroe Island more prominently

}}

In his first speech of 2025 King Frederik X appeared to rebuke Trump's offers of owning Greenland,{{Cite web |date=2025-01-07 |title=Danish king changes royal coat of arms in apparent rebuke of Trump over Greenland row |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/trump-greenland-denmark-king-coat-arms-b2674586.html |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=The Independent |language=en}} when he stated, "We are all united and each of us committed for the kingdom of Denmark, from the Danish minority in South Schleswig and all the way to Greenland. We belong together". The royal household also ordered the changing of the Royal Arms of Denmark to include Greenland more significantly in the arms.{{Cite web |last=Royston |first=Jack |date=2025-01-07 |title=Denmark's king sends Greenland message to Donald Trump |url=https://www.newsweek.com/denmark-king-greenland-donald-trump-2010801 |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}

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After Trump's Christmas message on Greenland, Greenlandic minister of finance Erik Jensen invited the president-elect to the island (as Siumut chairman, and not on behalf of the government).{{Cite news |last=Westh |first=Rasmus Raun |date=2025-01-07 |title=For få uger siden inviterede han Trump på besøg: Grønlandsk partileder skal ikke mødes med hans søn |url=https://www.altinget.dk/artikel/groenlandsk-partileder-jeg-har-ingen-aftaler-med-den-amerikanske-delegation |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=Altinget}} On 7 January, Donald Trump Jr. arrived in Greenland,{{cite web |last1=Aikman |first1=Ian |title=Trump Jr arrives in Greenland after dad says US should own the territory |date=7 January 2025 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yv10knyd9o |access-date=7 January 2025 |publisher=BBC}} but did not meet with Jensen or the Greenlandic government.{{r|westh20250107}} His guide was Jørgen Boassen, a pro-Trump islander who intends to run in the April 2025 election on a pro-United States platform,{{r|schreckinger20250110}} although he also stated his opposition to American acquisition of Greenland.{{Cite news |last=Colchester |first=Max |title=Trump's Talk of Buying Greenland Energizes Island's Independence Movement |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/trumps-talk-of-buying-greenland-energizes-islands-independence-movement-58891a92 |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}

Trump Jr. arrived ahead of his father's press conference in Florida where Trump announced that he would institute "very high" tariffs against Denmark if it resisted attempts to make Greenland a U.S. territory, questioned the legal status of Danish sovereignty in Greenland, and refused to rule out economic or military action against Denmark if they refused, citing national and economic security reasons.{{Cite web |last1=Ott |first1=Haley |last2=Aksoy |first2=Ibrahim |last3=Watson |first3=Kathryn |date=2025-01-07 |title=Trump won't rule out military action to take control of Greenland as son visits – CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenland-donald-trump-jr-visit-denmark/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-07 |title=Trump refuses to rule out using economic or military force to take Greenland and Panama Canal |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-military-force-greenland-panama-canal/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Politico |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-07 |title=Trump refuses to rule out use of military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-offshore-drilling-gulf-of-america-fa66f8d072eb39c00a8128a8941ede75 |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=AP News |language=en}} Egede urged calm among Greenlanders: "The announcements yesterday are of course worrying. However, it is necessary that we as a nation do not act hastily".{{Cite news |last1=Wille |first1=Andreas |last2=Nathansen |first2=Bibi |title=Trump afviser ikke at bruge magt: Múte B. Egede maner til ro |url=https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/trump-afviser-ikke-bruge-magt-mute-b-egede-maner-til-ro |access-date=2025-01-13 |publisher=KNR |language=da}} Trump might use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to raise tariffs on Danish goods, such as Novo Nordisk's drug Ozempic;{{r|bbc20250111}} a 2024 study estimated that the GDP of Denmark would decline by 3% if the United States imposed 10% tariffs on European Union imports.{{r|gozzi20250109}} Conversely, a deal with Denmark over Greenland might include favorable Medicare and Medicaid treatment for Danish pharmaceuticals.{{Cite magazine |last=Olsen |first=Henry |date=2025-01-11 |title=An Alternative to Buying Greenland That Could Actually Work |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/01/an-alternative-to-buying-greenland-that-could-actually-work/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250111123233/https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/01/an-alternative-to-buying-greenland-that-could-actually-work/ |archive-date=2025-01-11 |access-date=2025-01-11 |magazine=National Review |language=en-US}} On 16 January, the CEOs of major Danish companies Novo Nordisk, Vestas and Carlsberg, among others, assembled for a crisis meeting in the Ministry of State to discuss the situation.{{Cite news |last=Jørgensen |first=Steen A. |date=17 January 2025 |title=Politikere har været til nyt hastemøde om Trump og Grønland |url=https://jyllands-posten.dk/politik/ECE17817853/politikere-har-vaeret-til-nyt-hastemoede-om-trump-og-groenland/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117155746/https://jyllands-posten.dk/politik/ECE17817853/politikere-har-vaeret-til-nyt-hastemoede-om-trump-og-groenland/ |archive-date=17 January 2025 |access-date=17 January 2025 |work=Jyllands-Posten}}{{Cite news |last=Mortensen |first=Mikkel Walentin |date=17 January 2025 |title=Mens verden holder vejret, forbereder danske virksomheder sig på Trumps trusler |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/business/2025-01-16-mens-verden-holder-vejret-forbereder-danske-virksomheder-sig-paa-trumps-trusler |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117160019/https://nyheder.tv2.dk/business/2025-01-16-mens-verden-holder-vejret-forbereder-danske-virksomheder-sig-paa-trumps-trusler |archive-date=17 January 2025 |access-date=17 January 2025 |work=TV 2}}

Trump Jr.'s arrival in Nuuk was greeted by a crowd of local residents, some of whom were opposed to annexation but attended because "it's exciting to have visitors from America".{{cite news |title=Varm men forbeholden velkomst til Trump Jr. |url=https://www.sermitsiaq.ag/samfund/varm-men-forbeholden-velkomst-til-trump-jr/2179858 |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=Sermitsiaq |date=January 7, 2025}} Donald Trump telephoned a luncheon Trump Jr. had at Hotel Hans Egede with local Nuuk residents, including homeless and otherwise socially vulnerable residents and a Nuuk drug dealer,{{cite web | url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/doemt-hashsmugler-blev-ansigt-paa-trumps-groenlands-planer-virker-mildest-talt-en | title=Dømt hashsmugler blev ansigt på Trumps Grønlands-planer: 'Virker mildest talt en smule uheldigt' | date=7 January 2025 }} in which he proclaimed that Greenland "is a very special place" and that the United States would "treat you well".{{cite news |last1=Gera |first1=Vanessa |title=Donald Trump Jr. arrives in Greenland with a message from his dad: 'We're going to treat you well' |url=https://apnews.com/article/greenland-us-trumps-son-visit-56bc01f1d3431c035b22ad6564579938 |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=Associated Press |date=January 7, 2025}} Employees of the Brugseni supermarket affirmed that Trump Jr.'s public relations team distributed MAGA hats to people outside the supermarket and offered these people a free lunch at the hotel, and that several of these people appeared in Trump Jr.'s promotional picture of his visit; one local attendee said that Trump Jr.'s team had invited him to eat at the best local restaurant.{{cite news |last1=Trolle |first1=Jakob |title=Kilder til DR: Trumps folk 'bestak' hjemløse og socialt udsatte med hotelmiddag for at lege Trump-støtter |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/kilder-til-dr-trumps-folk-bestak-hjemloese-og-socialt-udsatte-med-dyr-hotelmiddag |access-date=15 January 2025 |work=dr.dk |date=9 January 2025}} Trump Jr. said that Danes were racist toward Greenlanders and treated them poorly, agreeing with Chemnitz and Løkke.{{r|dr20250109}} On 14 January, the Trump-affiliated Nelk Boys also visited Godthåb, handing out dollar bills to locals.{{Cite news |last1=Gille |first1=Anna Danielsen |last2=Jørgensen |first2=Nicolai Jørgen |date=15 January 2025 |title=Jacobs 11-årige søn fik 100 dollar af Trumps YouTube-venner i Nuuk: 'Ikke i orden' |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/jacobs-11-aarige-soen-fik-100-dollar-af-trumps-youtube-venner-i-nuuk-ikke-i-orden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117161422/https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/jacobs-11-aarige-soen-fik-100-dollar-af-trumps-youtube-venner-i-nuuk-ikke-i-orden |archive-date=17 January 2025 |access-date=17 January 2025 |work=DR}}

Frederiksen's priority is maintaining good relations with the Americans, because of the "Greenland map" barter that has been vital to her country's security for 80 years, and because the United States is Denmark's largest trading partner.{{r|tvtwo20250107}} She requested an audience with Trump.{{cite news |title=Danish PM wants talks with Trump over Greenland |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/denmark-prime-minister-mette-frederiksen-talks-donald-trump-greenland/ |access-date=January 9, 2025 |work=Politico |date=January 10, 2025}} Her government privately reiterated to Trump aides that the island is not for sale, but that it will discuss increasing the United States military presence or any other request. Denmark wants to convince Trump that the United States does not need to possess Greenland.{{Cite web |last1=Ravid |first1=Barak |last2=Lawler |first2=David |date=2025-01-11 |title=Scoop: Denmark sent Trump team private messages on Greenland |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/01/11/denmark-response-trump-greenland-threat |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=Axios |language=en}} On 15 January, Frederiksen and Trump held a 45-minute phone conversation,{{Cite news |last=Klinge |first=Tobias Leth |date=16 January 2025 |title=I sin samtale med Mette Frederiksen ville Trump ikke trække toldtrusler tilbage |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/i-sin-samtale-med-mette-frederiksen-ville-trump-ikke-traekke-told-trusler-tilbage |access-date=16 January 2025 |work=DR}} whereafter Frederiksen stated: "There is no reason to believe [...] Trump to not be serious in his statements about his increasing interest in Greenland".{{Cite news |date=15 January 2025 |title=Statsministeren oplevede en Trump med stor interesse i Grønland i samtale |url=https://www.bt.dk/politik/statsministeren-oplevede-en-trump-med-stor-interesse-i-groenland-i-samtale?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AVINqTwNQTJ8mx3C5vS7BrWYr5ZQF18JjAVl7MTsrDpdYqpFkpWwv9rzx0Pqi03HRvg%3D&gaa_ts=678b6c4a&gaa_sig=D2ACFvDY0aePVxIYQTgxG9MITJfTKEciqp4hLZuxUNul_fsIesAMA1e_N-NV3hjAYT4Jmx1jB3ZS84FjPVyx4g%3D%3D |access-date=15 January 2025 |work=B.T. |publisher=Ritzau}} Two days later, foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told Politiken: "It's not as if I think it was good that she had that conversation, because then that problem is solved".{{Cite news |last=Skarum |first=Sarah |date=17 January 2025 |title="Det er ikke sådan, jeg tænker, at det var godt, hun har haft den samtale, for så er det problem løst" |url=https://politiken.dk/danmark/art10240553/%C2%BBDet-er-ikke-s%C3%A5dan-jeg-t%C3%A6nker-at-det-var-godt-hun-har-haft-den-samtale-for-s%C3%A5-er-det-problem-l%C3%B8st%C2%AB |access-date=17 January 2025 |work=Politiken}} The Financial Times reported that "Five current and former senior European officials briefed on the call said the conversation had gone very badly". One said "The intent was very clear. They want [Greenland]", and another said "the Danes are utterly freaked out about this". Trump reportedly threatened, according to the sources, "targeted tariffs" against Denmark. Frederiksen's office said it did "not recognise the interpretation of the conversation given by anonymous sources".{{Cite news |last1=Milne |first1=Richard |last2=Rachman |first2=Gideon |last3=Politi |first3=James |date=2025-01-24 |title=Donald Trump in fiery call with Denmark's prime minister over Greenland |url=https://www.ft.com/content/ace02a6f-3307-43f8-aac3-16b6646b60f6 |access-date=2025-01-24 |work=Financial Times}}

United States senator John Fetterman said that, while he opposed "taking it [Greenland] by force", acquisition along the same model used for the Louisiana Purchase or the Alaska Purchase would be a "reasonable conversation" to have.{{cite news |last1=Irwin |first1=Lauren |title=Fetterman compares Trump's Greenland talk to Louisiana Purchase |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/5073218-fetterman-compares-trumps-greenland-talk-to-louisiana-purchase/ |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=The Hill |date=January 7, 2025}} Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska said to buy Greenland "if the price is right", but that his state "offers all of Greenland's benefits".{{Cite news |last=Fortinsky |first=Sarah |date=2025-01-15 |title=GOP senator to Trump: Alaska 'offers all of Greenland's benefits' |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5087970-trump-greenland-alaska-benefits/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=The Hill}} Jared Polis, the governor of Colorado, was open to the proposal "if it's the choice of the people of Greenland".{{cite news |last1=Ewing |first1=Giselle |title='It's bananas. It's insane.' Trump critics seethe over Greenland ambitions. |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-greenland-panama-criticism-us-expansion/ |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=Politico |date=January 7, 2025}} Bolton said that, while he supported the ultimate objective of United States annexation of Greenland, he disagreed with the way Trump was handling it and felt it needed a more sensitive and delicate approach.{{cite news |last1=Rubenstein |first1=Adam |title=John Bolton: Why America Needs Greenland |url=https://www.thefp.com/p/john-bolton-trump-greenland-denmark-casino |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=The Free Press |date=January 3, 2025}} While reiterating that the island's goal was independence, Greenlandic parliament member Kuno Fencker said that a COFA with the United States and Denmark was possible,{{Cite news |date=2025-01-07 |title=Hear what a member of Greenland's parliament thinks about Trump's interest in island |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/07/world/video/donald-trump-jr-greenland-visit-video-digvid |access-date=2025-01-08 |publisher=CNN |language=en}}{{r|schreckinger20250110}} stating that "Greenland's economy needs to be diversified ... So Donald Trump Junior, and even his father and other (members of the incoming) administration from the US are extremely welcome here in Greenland as visitors ... and also maybe more officially in the future".{{Cite news |last=Brennan |first=Eve |date=2025-01-06 |title=Trump Sr. called for US ownership of Greenland. Now Trump Jr. is visiting |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/europe/trump-greenland-visit-denmark-intl-latam/index.html |access-date=2025-01-09 |publisher=CNN |language=en}} Fencker and Boassen met with Dans when the latter arrived in Nuuk on 11 January.{{Cite news |last1=Holm |first1=Mads Malik Fuglsang |last2=Christiansen |first2=Andrea |date=2025-01-17 |title=Trumps sande mand i Grønland |url=https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/trumps-sande-mand-i-groenland |access-date=2025-01-18 |publisher=KNR |language=da}} On January 30, 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that when Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland, it was "not a joke." Trump believed that Denmark would eventually give in.{{Cite news |date=2025-01-30 |title=Trump interest in buying Greenland 'not a joke', Rubio says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-interest-buying-greenland-not-joke-rubio-says-2025-01-30/ |access-date=2025-01-30 |publisher=Reuters |language=en}}

Statements by Trump and American officials prompted what the Copenhagen Post described as "widespread concern" in Denmark.{{cite news |title=Widespread concern in Denmark over Trump's intentions for Greenland |url=https://cphpost.dk/2025-01-07/news/politics/widespread-concern-in-denmark-over-trumps-intentions-for-greenland/ |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=Copenhagen Post |date=January 7, 2025}} Frederiksen met with opposition leaders on 9 January to discuss the crisis. Opposition MP Rasmus Jarlov criticized her stance that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders" and had control over its future, saying that Frederiksen should have more emphatically stated that Denmark opposed U.S. annexation of Greenland.{{Cite news |last=Gozzi |first=Laura |date=2025-01-09 |title=Denmark struggles to stay calm in crisis over Trump threat to take Greenland |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp313e41jy1o |access-date=2025-01-10 |publisher=BBC News |language=en-GB}} All left parties in the Danish parliament support Greenlandic independence, while the right is divided.{{Cite news |last=Jensen |first=Laura Bejder |date=2025-01-09 |title=Fra "skørt" til "selvfølgelig": Det siger partierne om grønlandsk selvstændighed |url=https://www.altinget.dk/artikel/fra-skoert-til-selvfoelgelig-det-siger-partierne-om-groenlandsk-selvstaendighed |access-date=2025-01-13 |publisher=DR}}{{Cite news |last=Kirkebæk-Johansson |first=Laura |date=2025-01-04 |title=Grønlandsk selvstændighed kræver grønt lys fra Folketinget. Men det er ikke alle, der er villige til at give det |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/groenlandsk-selvstaendighed-kraever-groent-lys-fra-folketinget-men-det-er-ikke-alle |access-date=2025-01-13 |publisher=DR |language=da-DK}} Denouncing "Greenlandic fantasists", Morten Messerschmidt, Danish People's Party leader, said Greenlanders would prefer Denmark's social programs to those of the United States: "Greenland will never gain independence. We might as well say that. Greenland will never, ever get independence", he said, adding that Trump would have to negotiate with Denmark, not Greenland.{{Cite news |last1=Klinge |first1=Tobias Leth |last2=Bøttcher |first2=Rasmus |date=2025-01-09 |title=Messerschmidt hælder racisme-beskyldninger ned ad brættet og kommer med opsang: 'Grønland får aldrig selvstændighed' |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/messerschmidt-haelder-racisme-beskyldninger-ned-ad-braettet-og-kommer-med-opsang |access-date=2025-01-13 |publisher=DR |language=da-DK}} On 14 January, Messerschmidt took part in a pro-Israeli conference held at Mar-a-Lago, but did not succeed in meeting Trump on the matter, instead talking to his former wife Marla Maples.{{Cite news |last=Helligsø |first=Emil Øgaard |date=15 January 2025 |title=Messerschmidt besøgte Trumps magtcentrum, men lykkedes ikke med at møde ham |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/politik/2025-01-14-messerschmidt-besoegte-trumps-magtcentrum-men-lykkedes-ikke-med-at-moede-ham |access-date=15 January 2025 |work=TV 2}}

The Red-Green Alliance said that Denmark should suspend a 2023 agreement allowing American troops on Danish soil. A spokesman for Frederiksen's Social Democrats rejected doing so, stating that the United States was vital to NATO and Danish security.{{Cite news |last1=Uldall |first1=Rosa |last2=Jørgensen |first2=Nicolai Jørgen |date=2025-01-06 |title=Socialdemokratiet afviser 'fjollet' kritik af Mette Frederiksens manglende udmelding om Grønland |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/socialdemokratiet-afviser-fjollet-kritik-af-mette-frederiksens-manglende-udmelding |access-date=2025-01-13 |publisher=DR |language=da-DK}} Speaking on 17 January, former chief executive Friis Arne Petersen in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the situation as "historically unheard of", while Noa Redington, special adviser to former prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, compared the international pressure on Denmark to that during the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy in 2005.{{Cite news |last=Hansted |first=Morten |date=17 January 2025 |title=Danmark i "historisk uhørt" krise: – Alarmtilstanden går kun én vej, og det er op |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/2025-01-17-danmark-i-historisk-uhoert-krise-alarmtilstanden-gaar-kun-en-vej-og-det-er-op |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117155039/https://nyheder.tv2.dk/2025-01-17-danmark-i-historisk-uhoert-krise-alarmtilstanden-gaar-kun-en-vej-og-det-er-op |archive-date=17 January 2025 |access-date=17 January 2025 |work=TV 2}}

The Trump offer gave Greenland the ability to use the United States and Denmark against each other. Jacob Kaarsbo, formerly with the Danish Defence Intelligence Service, said "Trump is absolutely capitalizing on Greenland's push for independence. I can easily see a scenario where Greenland moves away from Denmark after the upcoming elections". Peter Viggo Jakobsen of the University of Southern Denmark said that if Trump offered more money than the current Danish subsidy "I can easily imagine that a majority of the population will declare independence".{{Cite news |last1=Wass |first1=Sanne |last2=Sjolin |first2=Sara |last3=Deaux |first3=Joe |last4=Wienberg |first4=Christian |date=2025-01-10 |title=Greenland Eyes Benefits in Trump's Proposed Land Grab |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-10/greenland-eyes-benefits-in-trump-s-proposed-land-grab |access-date=2025-01-10 |language=en |agency=Bloomberg}} Greenlandic cabinet minister Naaja Nathanielsen said that her government had for years sought more cooperation with the United States or European Union, and that she rarely spoke to Danish media about her island's natural resources, the forced IUD case, or separation of Greenlandic children and parents in Denmark. Her island would use the great Danish and worldwide attention from Trump's interest to settle the scandals, she said.{{Cite news |last=Bryant |first=Miranda |date=2025-01-14 |title=Trump interest in Greenland is 'wake-up call to Copenhagen', says minister |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/14/trump-interest-in-greenland-is-wake-up-call-to-copenhagen-says-minister |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Reiterating that "We are not Danes, nor Americans", Nathanielsen asked for more American mining and infrastructure investment in a Washington Post op-ed, stating that Canadian and British companies held most licenses.{{Cite news |last=Nathanielsen |first=Naaj |date=2025-01-16 |title=Greenland does not want to be part of the U.S., but we are open for business |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/16/greenland-minerals-american-investment/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250116162801/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/16/greenland-minerals-american-investment/#selection-549.0-552.0 |archive-date=2025-01-16 |access-date=2025-01-18 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Gad said that Denmark might now be willing to continue subsidizing Greenland for some time after independence. On January 9, 2025, Trump wrote "The people of Greenland would love to become [an American state]. Denmark maybe doesn't like it. But then we can't be too happy with Denmark". While stating his opposition to joining the United States, Broberg said that Trump's interest in Greenland had confirmed the island's importance, and that other nations could help it become independent.{{r|colchester20250111}} Many Danish professionals on the island did not speak Greenlandic, he said, and that an independent Greenland would teach English instead of Danish: "Then it will not matter so much whether it is an American or an Englishman or a third person who speaks English who is going to be a doctor or a teacher. Then you will actually be able to communicate with each other".{{r|faurby20250107}} On 11 January leaders of all five parties in Inatsisartut (the Parliament of Greenland) refused the idea of becoming part of the US, though expressing an interest in maintaining a good relationship with the country.{{cite news |title=Grønlandske partier afviser Trump på stribe: Vil ikke være en del af USA |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/groenlandske-partier-afviser-trump-paa-stribe-vil-ikke-vaere-en-del-af-usa |access-date=12 January 2025 |work=DR |date=11 January 2025 |language=da-DK}}

{{Quote box

| quote = File:Olaf Scholz and Gustavo Petro in New York 2024 (cropped).jpg Borders must not be moved by force. This principle applies to every country, whether in the East or the West. In talks with our European partners, there is an uneasiness regarding recent statements from the US. It is clear: We must stand together.

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| quote = File:1719926097949 20240702 VISTISEN Anders Primdahl DK 011.jpg Dear President Trump,

Listen very carefully. Greenland has been part of the Danish kingdom for eight hundred years. It's an integrated part of our country. It is not for sale. Let me put it in words you might understand: Mr. Trump, fuck off.

| source = — Statement by Danish Member of the European Parliament from the Danish People's Party Anders Vistisen in the European Parliament, January 21st, 2025 {{cite web |date= 21 January 2025|title=Sitting of 21-01-2025 |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/vod.html?mode=unit&vodLanguage=EN&playerStartTime=20250121-13:40:15&playerEndTime=20250121-13:42:00# |website= |location= |publisher=European Parliament |access-date=}}{{cite web | url=https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-greenland-denmark-danish-politician-anders-vistisen-f-off-world-news/f8614fe8-914f-44dd-a0e1-f90554328f9e | title=Danish politician's two-word message to Donald Trump | date=22 January 2025 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/world/video/anders-vistisen-denmark-greenland-trump-ebof-digvid | title=Danish official explains his colorful language directed at Trump | CNN | website=CNN | date=24 January 2025 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anders-vistisen-explains-donald-trump-curse-words_n_679355c6e4b0e5e46c4369db | title=European Lawmaker Explains Exactly Why He Told Trump to 'F**k Off' | date=24 January 2025 }}{{cite web | url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/f-k-off-european-lawmaker-050354689.html | title='F**k Off': European Lawmaker Hits Trump with a Blunt Public Message | date=22 January 2025 }}[https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW520521012025RP1/]

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Some European leaders also expressed concern at Trump's increasing adamance in the annexation of Greenland. Speaking for the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov declared the Arctic "a zone of our national interests" and indicated Russia's opposition to changes in the status quo.{{r|wfin}} French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot warned Trump against threatening the European Union's borders.{{Cite web |title=France warns Donald Trump against Greenland threats – DW – 01/08/2025 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/france-warns-donald-trump-against-greenland-threats/a-71244465 |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=dw.com |language=en}} Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, in a post to X, stated "there is an uneasiness regarding recent statements from the US".{{cite news |title=Russia monitoring Trump's 'dramatic' comments on Greenland acquisition |url=https://wfin.com/fox-world-news/russia-monitoring-trumps-dramatic-comments-on-greenland-acquisition/ |access-date=January 10, 2025 |work=WFIN |date=January 9, 2025}} Also Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre,{{Cite news |date=January 8, 2025 |title=Støre om Trumps Grønlands-fremstøt: – Et spesielt utsagn |url=https://www.bt.no/politikk/i/dRp0nz/stoere-om-trumps-groenlands-fremstoet-et-spesielt-utsagn |access-date=January 13, 2025 |work=Bergens Tidende}} Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson,{{Cite news |date=January 9, 2025 |title=Kristersson: Danmark och Grönland som bestämmer |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/GyqAvQ/kristersson-danmark-och-gronland-som-bestammer |access-date=January 13, 2025 |work=Aftonbladet}} and UK foreign secretary David Lammy{{Cite news |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |date=January 9, 2025 |title=US seizure of Greenland is 'not going to happen', says David Lammy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jan/09/us-seizure-of-greenland-is-not-going-to-happen-says-david-lammy |access-date=January 13, 2025 |work=The Guardian}} have reacted negatively to the acquisition wishes of the Trump administration.

Jacques Hartmann of Dundee University Law School wrote that even if the Danish parliament voted against Greenlandic independence, Denmark could not stop secession because of the island's right to unilaterally declare independence, which the United States would likely recognize.{{r|hartmann20250109}} Greenlandic Premier Egede canceled a planned audience with Frederik X, scheduled to coincide with the date of Trump Jr.'s visit, in what officials attributed to a scheduling conflict but the Copenhagen Post noted was "not a normal occurrence".{{cite news |last1=Barrett |first1=Michael |title=Greenland PM's meeting with Danish King postponed amid reported Trump Jr visit |url=https://www.thelocal.dk/20250107/greenland-pms-meeting-with-king-postponed-amid-reported-trump-jr-visit |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=The Local |date=January 7, 2025}}{{cite news |title=And Greenland's Premier cancel visit to King Frederik amid growing tensions with the US |url=https://cphpost.dk/2025-01-07/news/politics/and-greenlands-premier-postpones-visit-to-king-frederik-amid-growing-tensions-with-the-us/ |access-date=January 7, 2025 |work=Copenhagen Post |date=January 7, 2025}} The meeting with the king was shortly after rescheduled and took place, four hours later than initially planned; royal historian Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen said that Egede rescheduled the meeting to prove that he did not "bow to Denmark".{{Cite news |date=January 8, 2025 |title=Greenland's Premier will visit Denmark's king after all |url=https://cphpost.dk/2025-01-08/general/greenlands-premier-cancel-will-visit-denmarks-king-after-all/ |access-date=January 8, 2025 |work=Copenhagen Post}} At a previously scheduled joint press conference on 10 January, Frederiksen and Egede said that the incoming Trump administration had not contacted either. "The status quo is not an option", the latter said: "Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic", but he understood America's strategic interest in his island. Egede said he wanted to be able to speak to a foreign leader without a Danish ambassador present.{{r|ivanova20250110}} Elisabeth Svane of Politiken thought that Egede had recently become less strident, describing his tone as "yes, we want independence but in the long run".{{r|bbc20250111}} Back in Greenland, Mark Leibovich wrote that Egede seemed overwhelmed, regretting the sudden immense global interest Trump's interest had caused in him and his island.{{Cite magazine |last=Leibovich |first=Mark |date=2025-01-26 |title=Greenland's Prime Minister Wants the Nightmare to End |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/ar-AA1xT3gF |magazine=The Atlantic |via=MSN}}

Frederiksen described American interest in Greenland as positive, by causing the island and her country to reevaluate each other. She said that Greenlandic desire for independence was "legitimate and understandable" but that she wanted the island to remain within the kingdom.{{Cite news |last1=Ivanova |first1=Polina |last2=Milne |first2=Richard |date=2025-01-10 |title=Greenland wants to be independent, not American or Danish, says premier |url=https://www.ft.com/content/fe42761e-0bc8-4166-a2dc-25faffc8ea49 |access-date=2025-01-10 |work=Financial Times}}{{Cite news |date=2025-01-10 |title=Greenland's leader says his people don't want to be Americans as Trump covets territory |url=https://apnews.com/article/greenland-denmark-trump-us-egede-arctic-minerals-aa31c3c320b6719f38c5d3e6a792e58e |access-date=2025-01-10 |language=en |work=Associated Press News}}{{Cite news |last=Jungersen |first=Rasmus |date=2025-01-10 |title=Grønlænderne vil ikke være danskere – eller amerikanere: Her er de vigtigste pointer fra pressemøde |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/groenlaenderne-vil-ikke-vaere-danskere-eller-amerikanere-her-er-de-vigtigste-pointer |access-date=2025-01-10 |publisher=Danish Broadcasting Corporation |language=da-DK}} Gad stated that Frederiksen—unlike previous Danish governments—was not completely against a Danish COFA with Greenland. She might decide that, given the Trump discussion, a looser relationship with the island was better than completely losing Denmark's Arctic role, the scholar said.{{r|bbc20250111}} Dans and Boassen traveled to the United States on 13 January,{{r|knr20250117}} having organized a Greenlandic delegation to the second inauguration of Donald Trump,{{r|schreckinger20250110}} while Broberg attended a watch party at parliament of Trump's inauguration speech formed in case the president would mention Greenland. He did not, but Broberg nonetheless welcomed Trump's interest, both for increasing the island's value and, Leibovich said, "freaking out Denmark".{{r|leibovich20250126}} On 26 January Frederiksen had dinner with other Nordic leaders, and on 28 January she met with Scholz, President of France Emmanuel Macron, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to discuss the crisis.{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Ali |date=2025-01-28 |title=Mette Frederiksen's diplomatic dash to save Greenland from Trump |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/mette-frederiksens-diplomatic-dash-to-save-greenland-from-donald-trump/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |work=Politico |language=en-GB}}

Citing the Northwest Passage, GIUK gap, and missile defense, General Philip Breedlove (USAF, Ret.) said "Guaranteeing a western-leaning Greenland is extremely important". While stating that the United States did not need to own the island to do so, and deploring the "rough public conversation" between the United States and Denmark, the former SACEUR said "It is incredibly important that we do not allow Russian and Chinese influence to grow".{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGh1kFqIoc |title=General Breedlove: Why Greenland Matters |date=2025-01-08 |publisher=The Cipher Brief |access-date=2025-01-10 |via=YouTube}} Admiral James Stavridis (USN, Ret.) said Greenland "is an immensely valuable piece of real estate" because of its strategic location, natural resources, and potential for post climate-change agriculture. Since he did not expect American acquisition of the island, and advised against independence, the former SACEUR proposed that the United States improve the island's infrastructure, police, military, and tourism.{{Cite news |last=Stavridis |first=James |date=2025-01-10 |title=Trump Is Right: Greenland Is Vital to US National Security |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-01-10/trump-is-right-greenland-is-vital-to-defending-america |access-date=2025-01-15 |language=en |agency=Bloomberg}}{{Cite news |last=Fields |first=Ashleigh |date=2025-01-12 |title=Stavridis says Trump's plan for Greenland 'not a crazy idea' |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/5081040-stavridis-says-trumps-plan-for-greenland-not-a-crazy-idea/ |access-date=2025-01-12 |work=The Hill}} Gad, the author of Greenland in Arctic Security, said that while the GIUK gap and Pituffik are important for American national security, "neither the US nor Danish and Greenlandic authorities have so far found anything that warrants further military buildup in Greenland".{{Cite web |last=Gad |first=Ulrik Pram |date=2025-01-21 |title=Dear mr. Trump, do not get Greenland's role in Arctic security wrong |url=https://www.sciencenordic.com/arctic-greenland-usa/dear-mr-trump-do-not-get-greenlands-role-in-arctic-security-wrong/2456569 |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=ScienceNordic |language=en-GB}}

On March 4, 2025, Trump gave a speech before the United States Congress where he declared: "One way or the other, we’re going to get" Greenland.{{cite news |last1=Nova |first1=Annie |title=Trump says the U.S. will take control of Greenland 'one way or the other' |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/04/trump-says-the-us-will-take-greenland-one-way-or-the-other.html |access-date=March 5, 2025 |work=CNBC |date=March 4, 2025}} In his March 13, 2025 meeting with NATO Sec. Gen. Rutte, Trump suggested that he would be working with NATO when annexing Greenland, which he said he thought would happen. Rutte responded saying that he wanted to "leave that [issue] outside... I do not want to drag NATO into that" while agreeing with Trump on the need for Arctic security cooperation.{{Cite news |last=Wertheimer |first=Tiffany |date=March 14, 2025 |title=Greenland's politicians unite against Trump |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2ljrjeqzq4o |access-date=March 14, 2025 |work=BBC News}} On March 14, 2025, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the leader of the Greenland Democrats that won the most seats in the 2025 Greenlandic general election, called for a grand coalition to show unity in the face of American annexation threats. The same day, leaders of all five parties in the Inatsisartut issued a joint statement rejecting Trump's repeated comments about annexation. Denmark's Prime Minister Frederiksen also issued a statement supporting the Greenlandic leaders.{{Cite news |date=March 14, 2025 |title=Greenland's Democrats want broad coalition to show unity in face of Trump pressure |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenland-must-quickly-form-broad-coalition-show-unity-face-trump-pressure-2025-03-14/ |access-date=March 14, 2025 |work=Reuters}}{{Cite web |date=March 14, 2025 |title=Pressemeddelelse |url=https://naalakkersuisut.gl/Nyheder/2025/03/1403_udtalelse |access-date=March 14, 2025 |website=Government of Greenland |language=kl}}

{{Infobox legislation

|short_title = Make Greenland Great Again Act

|legislature = United States House of Representatives

|long_title = To authorize the President to seek to enter into negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark to secure the acquisition of Greenland by the United States

|citation = {{USBill|119|hr|361}}

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On January 13, 2025, legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Andy Ogles to authorize the U.S. government to acquire Greenland on behalf of the United States, granting to Congress a 60-day review period prior to integration of Greenlandic territory into the United States.{{cite news |title=Tennessee Rep. introduces Make Greenland Great Again Act supporting territory acquisition |url=https://fox17.com/news/local/tennessee-rep-introduces-make-greenland-great-again-act-supporting-territory-acquisition-donald-trump-andy-ogles-denmark-politics-national-security |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=WZTV-TV |date=January 14, 2025}} As of the date of introduction, the bill had 12 co-sponsors and had been referred to the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs for review.

{{Infobox legislation

|short_title = Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025

|legislature = United States House of Representatives

|long_title = To authorize the President to "purchase or otherwise acquire" Greenland and to rename the island "Red, White and Blueland"

|citation = {{USBill|119|h|1161}}

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|introduced_by = Buddy Carter

|committee_responsible = United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs and United States House Committee on Natural Resources{{cite web |last1=Carter |first1=Earl L. |title=H.R.1161 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1161 |website=www.congress.gov |date=10 February 2025 |access-date=12 February 2025 |archive-date=12 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250212000943/https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1161 |url-status=live }}

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On 10 February 2025, Representative Buddy Carter introduced a legislation which would rename Greenland to "Red, White, and Blueland" and allow US President Donald Trump to "purchase or otherwise acquire" Greenland.{{cite web |title=Carter introduces bill renaming Greenland |url=https://buddycarter.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=15398 |website=Congressman Buddy Carter |language=en |date=11 February 2025 |access-date=12 February 2025 |archive-date=12 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250212154706/https://buddycarter.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=15398 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Ryan |title=GOP rep unveils bill empowering Trump to acquire Greenland, rename it 'Red, White, and Blueland' |work=NYPost |url=https://nypost.com/2025/02/11/us-news/gop-rep-unveils-bill-empowering-trump-to-acquire-greenland-rename-it-red-white-and-blueland/ |date=11 February 2025 |archive-date=11 February 2025 |access-date=11 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211173246/https://nypost.com/2025/02/11/us-news/gop-rep-unveils-bill-empowering-trump-to-acquire-greenland-rename-it-red-white-and-blueland/ |url-status=live }} Carter further stated, "When our Negotiator-in-Chief signs this historic agreement, we will proudly welcome the people of what is now Greenland to join the freest nation in history. President Trump has rightly identified this purchase as a national security priority."{{cite news |title=Greenland No More? US Lawmaker Wants To Rename It 'Red…' After Acquisition |url=https://www.news18.com/world/greenland-acquisition-donald-trump-us-buddy-carter-wants-to-rename-it-red-white-and-blueland-latest-news-9223711.html |work=News18 |language=en}} The legislation gives the office of the Secretary of the Interior six months after its passage to ensure that federal documents are updated to reflect the name change.

• In August 2019, The Washington Post estimated a purchase price of Greenland between $200 million and $1.7 trillion, with a middle estimate of $42.6 billion. The lower figure was based on an inflation- and size-adjusted valuation of what the United States paid for Alaska, and the higher figure based on a price-to-earnings ratio of 847, which the newspaper said might be justified based on future valuations of its mineral deposits, and the possibility that it might become a residential destination due to both the effects of climate change{{cite news |last1=Ingraham |first1=Christopher |title=Trump wants to buy Greenland. How much would it cost? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/16/trump-wants-buy-greenland-how-much-would-it-cost/ |access-date=August 16, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 16, 2019}} and becoming a United States territory.
• The Financial Times{{'}}s FT Alphaville estimated a $1.1 trillion price for the territory. Its sum-of-the-parts analysis valued potential oil fields at $300 billion to $400 billion, rare-earth minerals at $500 billion to $700 billion, and real estate at $200 billion to $220 billion. The newspaper wrote that the US has "a history of accretive land acquisitions", with a 7.1% internal rate of return for the Louisiana Purchase, 7.4% for Manhattan, and 9.0% for Alaska.{{Cite news |url=https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2019/08/16/1565947959000/Greenland--upgrade-to-BUY/ |title=Greenland: Alphaville put on its sellside hat for the deal of the century |last=Powell |first=Jamie |date=2019-08-16 |work=Financial Times |access-date=2019-08-20}}
• 24/7 Wall Street estimated a purchase price for Greenland of $533 billion, using Wyoming as a comparable. "If the United States wants it for the strategic value of its property, both on land and offshore, and to project military power, the answer is that a value of $500 billion is not overly rich", 24/7 Wall Street concluded.{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/20/trump-greenland-how-much-cost/39980029/ |title=How much would the US have to pay for Greenland? One estimate says half a trillion dollars |last=McIntyre |first=Douglas A. |date=2019-08-20 |work=USA Today |access-date=2019-08-20 |agency=24/7 Wall Street |language=en}}

{{Sidebar

| title = U.S. territorial purchases

| content1 =

{{Sidebar |child=yes

| title = Louisiana

| heading1 = 1803 purchase price

| content1 = $15 million{{cite news |last1=Roeloffs |first1=Mary Whitfill |title=Here's When The U.S. Acquired Its Territories—And How Much They Cost—As Trump Renews Calls To Take Over Greenland |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/01/07/heres-when-the-us-acquired-its-territories-and-how-much-they-cost-as-trump-renews-calls-to-take-over-greenland/ |access-date=January 13, 2025 |work=Forbes |date=January 7, 2025}}

|heading2 = 2025 relative price

| content2 = $342 million

| content3 =

}}

| content2 =

{{Sidebar |child=yes

| title = Alaska

| heading1 = 1867 purchase price

| content1 = $7.2 million

|heading2 = 2025 relative price

| content2 = $120 million| content3 =

}}

{{Sidebar |child=yes

| title = Danish West Indies

| heading1 = 1917 purchase price

| content1 = $25 million

|heading2 = 2025 relative price

| content2 = $674 million

| content3 =

}}

| below =

}}

• FT Alphaville reiterated its $1.1 trillion estimate in 2025.{{Cite news |last=Elder |first=Bryce |date=2025-01-08 |title=Alphaville LLC issues new research report on Greenland |url=https://www.ft.com/content/f6f9ac64-c3cd-42be-ab2e-c0a833787a30 |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=Financial Times}}
• The Economist said of its $50 billion valuation using discounted cash flows—one twentieth of annual US defense spending—or about $1 million to each resident, not including its value to American national security: "Given the territory's riches and importance, America could probably make every Greenlander a multimillionaire and still benefit enormously from the purchase".{{Cite magazine |date=2025-01-09 |title=An American purchase of Greenland could be the deal of the century |url=https://www.livemint.com/global/an-american-purchase-of-greenland-could-be-the-deal-of-the-century-11736385688603.html |access-date=2025-01-11 |magazine=The Economist |via=Mint.com}}
• Noel Maurer of George Washington University estimated that royalties and mining tax revenues would be worth $16 to $20 billion to the U.S. federal government, net of the cost of continuing the existing Danish subsidy to Greenland. He discounted future mining revenues for the risk that they might not materialize. Maurer also estimated an additional strategic value between $12 and $24 billion, based on past U.S. offers for similar territories, for a total value between $29 billion and $45 billion, or $518,000 and $804,000 per Greenlandic citizen.{{cite web |last=Maurer |first=Noel |date=January 14, 2025 |title= The price of Greenland |url=https://noelmaurer.substack.com/p/the-price-of-greenland |website=The Power and the Money |access-date=January 19, 2025}}
• David R. Barker estimated a $12.5 billion to $77 billion purchase price, noting that if Greenland benefited national security, "its value increases with the size of the U.S. economy".
• Nikola Swann of credit consultant SwissThink stated that the island's mineral wealth was more important because of the existing American military presence. Barker thought the Financial Times estimate was too high because the government and private industry would share the benefits of drilling and mining rights. Swann said that the importance of pharmaceuticals to the Danish economy strengthened Trump's tariffs threat.{{Cite news |last=Kessler |first=Sarah |date=2025-01-11 |title=How Much Would Buying Greenland Cost? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/11/business/how-much-would-buying-greenland-cost.html |access-date=2025-01-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Several estimates agreed that buying Greenland would be "the deal of the century".{{r|kessler20250111}}{{r|elder20250108}}{{r|economist20250109}}

{{table alignment}}

Several proposals have been advanced for governance of Greenland in the event of its acquisition by the United States.

Former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien suggested that the United States could award Greenland to Alaska, noting that "the native people in Greenland are very closely related to the people of Alaska".{{cite news |last1=Fortinsky |first1=Sarah |title=Former Trump adviser: If Denmark can't defend Greenland, let US buy it to 'become part of Alaska' |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/5059147-former-trump-adviser-robert-obrien-denmark-greenland-alaska/ |access-date=January 11, 2025 |date=December 29, 2024}} A report issued by Audubon

found that harmonizing Alaska's common law legal system with the Danish civil law used in Greenland would present issues, and that "indigenous populations could face challenges related to rights, cultural preservation, and social integration". The report also found that merging the two countries would offer "several advantages for the United States, spanning economic, strategic, and environmental domains".{{cite web |title=Impact And Implications: US May Merge Greenland With Alaska |url=https://climate.nc.audubon.org/detailed-reporting/impact-and-implications-us-may-merge-greenland-with-alaska.html |website=audobon.org |publisher=Audubon |access-date=January 11, 2025}}

Barry Scott Zellen, a scholar of Arctic strategy at the United States Coast Guard Academy, suggested Greenland could become an organized and unincorporated territory of the United States but with a clear pathway to eventual admission as a constituent state "not unlike that which Alaska followed". According to Zellen, "Greenlandic Inuit, who suffer from a long legacy of neglect and whose colonial experience, despite recent gains in autonomy, has not been entirely positive, may indeed stand to benefit in many ways" from this arrangement.{{cite web |last1=Zellen |first1=Barry Scott |title=Greenland as an American Territory: A Bad Idea, a Bold Idea … or a Beyond-the-Horizon Idea worth Studying? |url=https://uscga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/zellen-greenland-and-the-future.pdf |website=uscga.edu |publisher=United States Coast Guard Academy |access-date=January 11, 2025}}

File:AlaskaGreenland.jpg suggested merging Greenland and Alaska to form a single polity under the United States.]]

In November 2024, Gray proposed that an independent Greenland sign a COFA with the United States which would guarantee American economic and military assistance, describing it as "the deal of the century".{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Alexander B. |date=2024-11-25 |title=Why Trump Really Should 'Buy' Greenland |url=https://www.wsj.com/opinion/why-trump-really-should-buy-greenland-national-security-policy-58d9c2ca |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241126224539/https://www.wsj.com/opinion/why-trump-really-should-buy-greenland-national-security-policy-58d9c2ca |archive-date=2024-11-26 |access-date=2024-12-23 |work=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=2024-12-23 |title=Trump udpeger ambassadør til Danmark og lufter idé om kontrol over Grønland |url=https://politiken.dk/internationalt/art10221937/Trump-udpeger-ambassad%C3%B8r-til-Danmark-og-lufter-id%C3%A9-om-kontrol-over-Gr%C3%B8nland |access-date=2024-12-23 |work=Politiken |language=da-DK}} Trump officials reportedly discussed creating a COFA{{r|reuters20250108}} and Greenlanders are aware of the proposal,{{Cite web |last=Schreckinger |first=Ben |date=2025-01-10 |title=We Went to Greenland to Ask About a Trump Takeover |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/01/10/nuuk-greenland-trump-denmark-00197070 |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Politico |language=en}} in addition to their own longstanding internal discussions of seeking a COFA with Denmark or the United States.{{r|dall20241105}}

Writing in The Volokh Conspiracy, Josh Blackman suggested—in a post-acquisition scenario—the United States Congress could place Greenland within the fifth judicial circuit whose judges, he opined, might be more friendly to permitting resource extraction.{{cite news |last1=Blackman |first1=Josh |title=Some Legal Questions About Greenland, Puerto Rico, and Alberta |url=https://reason.com/volokh/2025/01/10/some-legal-questions-about-greenland-puerto-rico-and-alberta/ |access-date=January 11, 2025 |work=Reason |date=January 10, 2025}}

Trevor Filseth of The National Interest wrote that in addition to promising that "life in Greenland will remain the same or improve under the American flag" as an autonomous territory, Trump should commit to a subsidy larger than Denmark's and exemption from the Jones Act.{{Cite magazine |last=Filseth |first=Trevor |date=2025-01-18 |title=Shopping For Greenland |url=https://nationalinterest.org/feature/shopping-greenland-214444 |access-date=2025-01-19 |magazine=The National Interest |language=en}}

During a 8 January 2025 press conference at The Pentagon, Sabrina Singh declined to answer the question of a reporter who asked "Are there plans to take Greenland by force if ordered to do so?" saying she would defer comments on the matter to "the incoming administration".{{cite news |title=Pentagon holds briefing after Trump refuses to rule out military action for Panama Canal |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-pentagon-holds-briefing-after-trump-refuses-to-rule-out-military-action-for-panama-canal |access-date=January 8, 2025 |work=PBS |date=January 8, 2025}} Asked on 14 January by Senator Mazie Hirono about the potential use of military force to integrate Greenland into the United States, Pete Hegseth—then presumptive nominee for United States Secretary of Defense—stated he would not provide details in a public forum.{{cite news |last1=Lotz |first1=Avery |title=Five questions Hegseth dodged at his Defense Department confirmation hearing |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/01/14/hegseth-defense-confirmation-hearing-dodge-questions |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=Axios |date=January 14, 2025}}

{{external media

| float = right | caption = Trump discusses potential coercive action to enforce territorial integration

| headerimage= File:YouTube 2024.svg

| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBaO4sEMl-A (via Politico)]

| video2 =

}}

In January 2025, then-Vice President-elect JD Vance repeatedly stated that controlling Greenland is critical for U.S. national security and said that there's "a deal to be made in Greenland".{{cite news |last1=Lotz |first1=Avery |title=JD Vance says there's "a deal to be made in Greenland" |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/01/12/jd-vance-trump-greenland-deal |access-date=January 25, 2025 |work=Axios |date=January 12, 2025}}

Following a 15 January telephone call with Trump, Frederiksen confirmed the United States' interest in acquisition of Greenland and its commitment to apply punitive, economic sanctions against Denmark until it acquiesced to the transfer of the territory.{{cite news |title=Múte B. Egede gentager pointer om Grønland på Fox News |url=https://politiken.dk/kultur/medier/art10247955/M%C3%BAte-B.-Egede-gentager-pointer-om-Gr%C3%B8nland-p%C3%A5-Fox-News |access-date=January 17, 2025 |work=Politiken |date=January 17, 2025}} In a meeting with the parliamentary committee on foreign policy, Frederiksen said the nation was in "a serious situation", that "unfortunately, we could face a situation where our level of economic cooperation [with the United States] might be less than it is today", and that she was concerned for Danish national security "as a country and as a Kingdom".{{cite news |last1=Barrett |first1=Michael |title=Trump 'did not withdraw' threat of Denmark tariffs in Greenland call |url=https://www.thelocal.dk/20250116/trump-did-not-withdraw-threat-of-denmark-tariffs-in-greenland-call |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=The Local |date=January 16, 2025}}

In advance of the 2025 Greenlandic general election, the Danish Defence Intelligence Service and the Danish Security and Intelligence Service indicated they were actively monitoring for potential attempts by foreign states to influence the outcome of the contest.{{cite news |last1=Hivert |first1=Anne-Françoise |title=Greenland prepares for risks of foreign interference |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/02/05/greenland-rallies-against-the-risk-of-foreign-interference_6737789_4.html |access-date=March 4, 2025 |work=Le Monde |date=February 5, 2025}} In an interview with TV 2, independent analysts named the United States as one possible instigator of clandestine action in the country.{{cite news |title=Eksperter frygter desinformation og udenlandsk indblanding – "ser det allerede" |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/politik/2025-02-04-eksperter-frygter-desinformation-og-udenlandsk-indblanding-ser-det-allerede |access-date=February 5, 2025 |work=TV 2 |date=February 5, 2025}}

The United States is Denmark's largest export market, accounting for more than 17 percent of all products the country sells externally, while Denmark is the United States' 29th largest export market, accounting for less than one percent of all products it sells externally.{{cite news |last1=Kirby |first1=Paul |title=Russia keeping close eye on Trump's claim to Greenland |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kvkrv7yrdo |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=BBC News |date=January 8, 2025}} Jesper Daugaard Faurby, Danish Country Manager of Atradius, said that a trade war between the United States and European Union could cause the inflation to rise and result in bankruptcies of otherwise healthy companies.{{cite news |title=Mens verden holder vejret, forbereder danske virksomheder sig på Trumps trusler |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/business/2025-01-16-mens-verden-holder-vejret-forbereder-danske-virksomheder-sig-paa-trumps-trusler |access-date=January 17, 2025 |work=TV 2 |date=January 16, 2025}}

In April 2025, a plan by the United States for undermining the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark through a campaign of foreign interference and disinformation on social media became known.{{cite news |title=USA har planen klar for å overta Grønland |url=https://www.aftenposten.no/verden/i/3MO7zv/new-york-times-usa-har-planen-klar-for-aa-overta-groenland |access-date=11 April 2025 |work=Aftenposten}}

According to defense researcher Kristian Søby Kristensen of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark "cannot defend Greenland against anybody on its own" and the Danish armed forces "are neither equipped nor trained to resist a U.S. invasion". Gad commented that a United States military-backed acquisition of Greenland would "be the shortest war in the world, there is no defensive capacity in Greenland". Marc Jacobsen, a professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, opined that "the US has de facto control [of Greenland] already".{{Cite news |last1=Gozzi |first1=Laura |last2=Greenall |first2=Robert |date=January 11, 2025 |title=Trump wants to take Greenland: Four ways this saga could go |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy3y8l8nwlo |access-date=January 11, 2025 |publisher=BBC}}

As of January 2025, Denmark's military stocks were significantly depleted due to recent arms transfers to Ukraine.

In January 2025, a European Commission spokesperson stated Denmark could invoke the European Union's mutual defense provisions in the event of a U.S. invasion of Greenland. Daniel Fiott of the Brussels School of Governance stated that such an appeal would be "meaningless in its current form as there is no genuine military force behind it".{{cite news |title=Wait and see: Brussels keeps mum over Trump's military threats against Greenland |url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/01/08/wait-and-see-brussels-keeps-mum-over-trumps-military-threats-against-greenland |access-date=January 11, 2025 |work=Euronews |date=January 8, 2025}} Writing for Irish Legal News, Federica Fazio questioned whether Denmark could, in fact, invoke the EU's mutual defense provisions in the event of the coercive annexation of Greenland as there is an outstanding question as to whether it is applicable in "Overseas Countries and Territories" of EU member states, such as Greenland. Fazio also noted that, as of 2025, some EU states—such as Italy and Hungary—would probably decline to provide assistance to Denmark altogether "and there is no sanctioning mechanism that could compel them to do otherwise".{{cite news |last1=Fazio |first1=Federico |title=Federica Fazio: What happens if Trump invades Greenland? |url=https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/federica-fazio-what-happens-if-trump-invades-greenland |access-date=January 15, 2025|work=Irish Legal News|date=January 15, 2025}} In late January 2025, the Chairman of the European Union Military Committee Robert Brieger called for the stationing of European Union military forces in Greenland. The proposal was immediately rejected by Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen.{{cite news |title=Forsvarsminister afviser drøftelser om EU-soldater i Grønland |url=https://www.berlingske.dk/politik/forsvarsminister-afviser-droeftelser-om-eu-soldater-i-groenland?referrer=RSS |access-date=January 25, 2025 |work=Berlingske |date=January 25, 2025}}

It is a legal uncertainty if Denmark could invoke NATO's mutual defense clause to repel an attack undertaken by another NATO state.

Besides ending sales of Ozempic to the United States, Foreign Policy suggested that Denmark could order Maersk and Lego to stop serving American customers as an economic disincentive for American invasion.{{Cite magazine |last=Braw |first=Elisabeth |date=2025-01-30 |title=How Denmark Can Hit Back Against Trump on Greenland |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/27/trump-denmark-greenland-ozempic-wegovy-maersk-lego-novo-nordisk/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |magazine=Foreign Policy |language=en-US}}

Under the Danish Penal Code, activities that unlawfully threaten Denmark's sovereignty or constitutional order, including through foreign interference or attempts to alter territorial integrity by illegal means, are criminalized under provisions relating to national security and crimes against the state.{{cite web |title=Straffeloven (Danish Penal Code) |url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2022/1260 |publisher=retsinformation.dk |access-date=11 April 2025}}

A 2019 article in Arctic Today claimed that about two-thirds of Greenlanders supported "the vision of independence from Denmark at some point in the future", but most believed that it would not be viable if it led to a cessation of Danish subsidies.{{r|breum20190823}} The article went on to note that "president Trump’s notion that Greenland, including all of its 57,000 inhabitants with their distinct language, unique culture, democratic institutions and the rest of it could be sold and bought as a simple piece of real estate collided head on with all current views in Denmark and Greenland of normality, the status of the kingdom, the value of history and respectful interchange between peoples as the foundation of the current order of our times."

The first survey of the island on foreign policy, by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation in 2021, found that 68% of islanders wanted more cooperation with Denmark. Martin Breum of the Arctic Council said that the finding was not contradictory with the strong support for independence, as many supporters believe that post-independence cooperation with Denmark would be voluntary for Greenland. 69% of Greenlanders wanted more cooperation with the United States, and 75% viewed NATO positively. The survey found that 85% of islanders wanted more cooperation with Canada, which Breum interpreted as wanting closer ties with the Inuit of Nunavut and not with Canada as a whole; "If I am right, this might disturb a few influential people in Nuuk" who have deemphasized transnational Inuit ties and support for the Inuit Circumpolar Council, he said.{{Cite web |last=Breum |first=Martin |date=2021-02-22 |title=A first-ever foreign policy opinion poll in Greenland shows support for more cooperation with US, Denmark |url=https://www.arctictoday.com/a-first-ever-foreign-policy-opinion-poll-in-greenland-shows-support-for-more-cooperation-with-us-denmark/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=ArcticToday |language=en-US}}

A January 2025 poll of 416 residents of Greenland, conducted by the U.S. survey firm Patriot Polling, found that 57.3% of respondents approve of Greenland joining the United States, while 37.4% disapprove and 5.3% are undecided.{{Cite web |title=Greenland supports joining the United States |url=https://patriotpolling.com/our-polls/f/greenland-supports-joining-the-united-states |last=Ruggieri |first=Lucca |date=2025-01-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250121221626/https://patriotpolling.com/our-polls/f/greenland-supports-joining-the-united-states |archive-date=2025-01-21 |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Patriot Polling |archive-format= |format=}}{{Cite web |title=Transition 2025: U.S. Foreign Policy on the Eve of Disruption |url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/transition-2025-us-foreign-policy-eve-disruption |last=Lindsay |first=James M. |date=2025-01-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121213903/https://www.cfr.org/blog/transition-2025-us-foreign-policy-eve-disruption |archive-date=2025-01-21 |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |author-link=James M. Lindsay |archive-format= |format=}}{{cite news |last1=Irwin |first1=Lauren |title=One poll finds majority of Greenland respondents support joining US |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/5081836-one-poll-finds-majority-of-greenland-respondents-support-joining-us/ |access-date=January 12, 2025 |work=The Hill |date=January 12, 2025}} The poll and the firm behind it was severely criticized by professor Scott Lucas from University College Dublin, however, who called the poll very suspect,{{cite web |title=Greenland in Donald Trump's crosshairs {{!}} Scott Lucas |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi0qxsfPhbQ |website=youtube |publisher=TVP World |access-date=22 January 2025 |date=13 January 2025}} criticizing the lack of information on how the respondents were chosen, which questions were asked, and what was its statistical uncertainty. He also named the firm behind it as a start-up organization having a political purpose performing push polls. The CEO of the organization, Lucca Ruggieri, came under criticism due to his ties to Republican donors and politicians.{{cite news |last1=Schneider |first1=Julie |title=To teenageres meningsmåling om Grønland er endt som en del af Ruslands propagandamaskine: »Nu er Danmark kørt lige ind i orkanens øje« |url=https://www.berlingske.dk/internationalt/to-teenageres-meningsmaaling-om-groenland-er-endt-som-en-del-af |access-date=22 January 2025 |work=Berlingske.dk |date=19 January 2025 |language=da}}

A poll of 497 adult residents of Greenland between 22 and 26 January 2025, made by Verian for the national Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq and the national Danish newspaper Berlingske, found that 85% of respondents rejected a proposition that Greenland should leave the Danish Realm to become part of the United States, whereas 6% supported the proposition and 9% were undecided. In the same poll, when asked whether they would prefer a Danish or an American citizenship, 55% preferred a Danish one and 8% an American one, whereas 37% were undecided.{{Cite news |title=Virtually no Greenlanders want to join the US, new poll finds |last=Lund Nielsen |first=Magnus |date=2025-01-28 |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/virtually-no-greenlander-wants-to-join-the-us-poll-finds/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250128212235/https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/virtually-no-greenlander-wants-to-join-the-us-poll-finds/ |archive-date=28 January 2025 |access-date=2025-01-28 |work=Euractiv |format=}}{{cite news |last1=Jørgensen |first1=Trine Juncher |title=Stort flertal imod amerikansk overtagelse |url=https://www.sermitsiaq.ag/samfund/stort-flertal-imod-amerikansk-overtagelse/2187957 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=www.sermitsiaq.ag |date=28 January 2025 |language=da-DK}}{{cite news |last1=Tidemann |first1=Daniel |last2=Fallentin |first2=Mia Gleerup |title=New poll shows overwhelming majority of Greenlanders reject Trump |url=https://www.berlingske.dk/politik/new-poll-shows-overwhelming-majority-of-greenlanders-reject-trump |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Berlingske.dk |date=28 January 2025 |language=en}} Furthermore, the poll explored opinions on Donald Trump's interest in Greenland: The results indicate that 45% of responders consider Donald Trump's interest in Greenland to be an opportunity, while 43% view it as a threat and 13% of answered "Don't know". The statistical uncertainty was reported as between 1.9% and 4.4%. Trump's interest in Greenland has strengthened the cause of Greenland's independence from Denmark.{{cite news |title=Greenland's independence movement sees opportunity in Trump's interest |url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/02/03/greenlands-independence-movement-sees-opportunity-in-trumps-interest |work=Euronews |date=3 February 2025}}

Only the party leader of Qulleq stated his support for Trump but the party failed to win any seats in the 2025 regional election which was won by the moderate and highly Trump-critical Democrats. The separatist Naleraq which has pro-Trump members came in second place.{{cite news |title=In Trump's Shadow, Greenland Votes for a New Government |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250312120506/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/world/europe/greenland-election.html|archive-date=12 March 2025|url=https://nytimes.com/2025/03/12/world/europe/greenland-election.html |work=New York Times |date=12 March 2025}}

A January 2025 poll of 1,000 U.S. registered voters conducted by Suffolk University found approximately 53 percent of respondents oppose acquiring Greenland, while 40 percent supported the idea.{{cite news |last1=Fortinsky |first1=Sarah |title=Half in US say Greenland takeover a bad idea: Survey |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/5086958-donald-trump-greenland-survey/ |access-date=January 15, 2024 |work=The Hill |date=January 15, 2024}}

A poll of 6,933 U.S. adults by YouGov, fielded on January 8, 2025, found 31% "strongly support" or "somewhat support" the U.S. seeking ownership of Greenland, 35% "strongly oppose" or "somewhat oppose" such a move, and 34% weren't sure. Responses indicating strong support for the proposal were highest among men, 18 to 29 year-olds, and persons in the Southern United States. Responses indicating strong opposition to the proposal were highest among persons over the age of 65 and those in the Midwestern United States.{{cite web |title=Would you support or oppose the U.S. seeking ownership of Greenland? |url=https://today.yougov.com/topics/travel/survey-results/daily/2025/01/08/0eca4/1 |website=yougov.com |publisher=YouGov |access-date=January 23, 2025}} A week later, another poll by YouGov joint with The Economist, comprising 1,558 U.S. adults, reported that 28% supported the U.S. seeking ownership of Greenland, whereas 47% opposed this and 25% were not sure. About one-fourth of those in favor of U.S. ownership of Greenland, corresponding to 6% of all poll participants, supported using military force to take over Greenland.{{cite web |title=The incoming Trump administration, the outgoing Biden administration, the economy, and wildfires: January 12-14, 2025 Economist/YouGov Poll {{!}} YouGov |url=https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/51369-incoming-trump-administration-outgoing-biden-administration-economy-wildfires-january-12-14-2025-economist-yougov-poll |website=today.yougov.com |access-date=23 January 2025 |language=en-us}}

Another poll of 1,077 U.S. adults, conducted by Ipsos for Reuters on January 20 to 21, showed little support for plans of extending U.S. territory, finding that only 16% of respondents agreed that the U.S. should pressure Denmark into selling Greenland to the U.S. and 21% agreed that the U.S. has a right to expand its territory in the Western Hemisphere.{{cite web |last1=Lange |first1=Jason |last2=Oliphant |first2=James |title=Exclusive: Trump starts new term with 47% approval; Jan. 6 pardons unpopular, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-starts-new-term-with-47-approval-jan-6-pardons-unpopular-reutersipsos-poll-2025-01-21/ |website=reuters.com |publisher=Reuters |access-date=23 January 2025 |date=22 January 2025}}

A January 2025 YouGov poll found that nearly half of Danes consider the United States a significant threat, surpassing concerns about North Korea and Iran, while 78% oppose selling Greenland to the United States.{{cite news |title=Nearly half of Danes see US as threat and 78% oppose Greenland sale, poll shows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/31/nearly-half-of-danes-see-us-as-threat-and-78-oppose-greenland-sale-poll-shows |access-date=31 January 2025 |work=The Guardian}}

In response to Trump's statements during his second term, Danish residents issued a satirical petition for Denmark to purchase California from the United States, that went viral and attracted several hundred thousand Danish signatures in support. The petition parodied Trump's rhetoric as president, bearing the slogan "Måke Califørnia Great Ægain" and vowing to "bring hygge to Hollywood, bike lanes to Beverly Hills and organic smørrebrød to every street corner."{{cite news |last1=Nowell |first1=Cecilia |title=Danes offer to buy California to spite Trump's Greenland aims: 'We'll bring hygge to Hollywood' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/denmark-california-greenland-california |access-date=12 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=11 February 2025 |ref=Nowell 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250211210256/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/denmark-california-greenland-california |archive-date=11 February 2025}}

• American expansionism under Donald Trump
• Hans Island – a Greenland island previously subject of a territorial dispute between Canada and Denmark
• Territorial expansion of the United States
• American imperialism
• {{section link|51st state|Greenland}}
• List of territory purchased by a sovereign nation from another sovereign nation
• Movements for the annexation of Canada to the United States
• Former organized territories of the United States
• Proposed Danish acquisition of California

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite journal |last=Cavell |first=Janice |title=Historical Evidence and the Eastern Greenland Case |journal=Arctic |date=December 2008 |volume=61 |issue=4 |pages=433–441 |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic61-4-433.pdf |access-date=19 June 2010 |doi=10.14430/arctic51}}
• {{cite book |title=Exploring Base Politics |series=Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics |editor1-first=Shinji |editor1-last=Kawana |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=9780367404758|chapter=Rethinking the politics surrounding the U.S. military base in Greenland with a focus on non-material factors|author1-first=Minori |author1-last=Takahashi}}
• {{cite book |last=Dörr |first=Oliver |title=Kompendium völkerrechtlicher Rechtsprechung |year=2004 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |isbn=3-16-148311-1 |language=German}}
• {{cite book |chapter=The Greenland Issue |author1-first=Erik |author1-last=Beukel |title=Phasing Out the Colonial Status of Greenland, 1945–54: A Historical Study |volume=37 |series=Meddelelser om Grønland |issn=0106-1062 |editor1-first=Jens Elo |editor1-last=Rytter |publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-87-635-2587-9}}
• {{cite book |title=Cold War Science and the Transatlantic Circulation of Knowledge |series=History of Modern Science |editor1-first=Jeroen |editor1-last=van Dongen |publisher=Brill |year=2015 |isbn=978-90-04-26422-9 |chapter=Small State versus Superpower |author1-first=Matthias |author1-last=Heymann |author2-first=Henry |author2-last=Nielsen |author3-first=Kristen Hvidtfelt |author3-last=Nielsen |author4-first=Henrik |author4-last=Knudsen}}
• {{cite book |title=Defiant Diplomacy: Henrik Kauffmann, Denmark, and the United States in World War II and the Cold War, 1939–1958 |volume=54 |series=Studies in modern European history |issn=0893-6897 |author1-first=Bo |author1-last=Lidegaard |translator1-first=W. Glyn |translator1-last=Jones |publisher=P. Lang |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8204-6819-8}}
• {{cite book |title=Eismitte in the Scientific Imagination: Knowledge and Politics at the Center of Greenland |series=Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology |author1-first=J. |author1-last=Martin-Nielsen |publisher=Springer |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-137-37598-8}}

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• {{cite book|title=Greenland in Arctic Security: (De)securitization Dynamics under Climatic Thaw and Geopolitical Freeze|isbn=9780472904396|editor1-first=Marc|editor1-last=Jacobsen|editor2-first=Ulrik Pram|editor2-last=Gad|editor3-first=Ole|editor3-last=Wæver|publisher=University of Michigan Press|author1-first=Marc|author1-last=Jacobsen|author2-first=Sara|author2-last=Olsvig|chapter=From Peary to Pompeo: The History of United States Securitizations of Greenland|date=February 13, 2024 |pages=107–148}}

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