Reviving a controversial proposal from his first term, President-elect Donald Trump has renewed his call for the United States to purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The Washington Post reports that Trump's latest push comes alongside his nomination of PayPal co-founder Kenneth Howery as ambassador to Denmark.
"For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity," Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, over the weekend.
The massive Arctic island, approximately three times larger than Texas with a population of 57,000, sits northeast of Canada. While geographically part of North America, Greenland maintains European ties as an autonomous territory of Denmark, which has exercised control over the island for more than two centuries.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede firmly rejected the proposal. "We are not for sale and will never be for sale," Egede said, echoing previous responses to similar overtures during Trump's first term.
Trump's interest stems partly from the US military presence on the island. The Pituffik Space Base serves as a strategic location for missile defense and space surveillance missions, according to the US Space Force. Additionally, The Washington Post notes that the island's vast territory – over 800,000 square miles – contains significant deposits of oil and rare earth minerals like neodymium and dysprosium, resources currently dominated by Chinese and Russian production.
The United States has previously attempted to acquire Greenland. President Harry S. Truman's administration offered $100 million for the island after World War II, while President Andrew Johnson's administration explored the possibility in the 1860s after a commissioned report highlighted the island's resources.
Denmark maintains control over Greenland's defense and foreign policy, though the island gained increased autonomy through the 2009 Self-Government Act. "The Greenlandic people have their own rights," Martin Lidegaard, former Danish foreign minister and then-chairman of the Danish Parliament's foreign policy committee, told The Washington Post in 2019.
While the purchase of territories isn't unprecedented in American history – including the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803 and Alaska from Russia in 1867 – The Washington Post calculated in 2019 that acquiring Greenland could hypothetically cost up to $1.7 trillion, though the point remains moot as both Danish and Greenlandic officials maintain it isn't for sale.
