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Can Trump's Greenland 'purchase' bid work out? History tells us something
US has historically sought Greenland, but local leaders firmly oppose any ideas of annexation or purchase, calling it insulting
Days after “capturing” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, US President Donald Trump in yet another array of claims said his nation needs to “own” Greenland, be it the easy or hard way. But he not the first US leader to say so, and history has shown it may not be as easily done as a business deal.
Even after Denmark and its semi-autonomous constituent Greenland stressed that the territory is not for sale, Trump has doubled down on his “decision”. The White House saying has said while the US administration is considering “buying” the territory from fellow NATO member Denmark, it would not rule out the option of annexing it by force. “Since Greenland stands covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over, US needs Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” Trump said, not elaborating on the claim.
And on Saturday, Trump shocked eight European countries. including Denmark, Norway, and the UK, with 10 per cent tariffs after he claimed that these the nations “journeyed” to Greenland and sent military personnel as part of a NATO exercise, ‘Arctic Endurance’.
Trump's latest regime may seem particularly aggressive, but the US standpoint of controlling or “owning” Greenland back dates to years ago. The latest move is nothing but a reignition of the nation's old yearning.
19th century
Back in 1867, days after United States' purchase of Alaska from the Russians, the then US secretary of state William H Seward proposed the idea of buying Iceland and Greenland from Denmark. A former US treasury secretary, Robert J Walker, who helped the nation broker the Alaska deal, had said something which is not entirely different to the current claims that Trump places on the table, CNN underlined in a recent report.
Walker had said that reason behind acquiring Greenland were political and commercial, and that doing so would help the US “command the commerce of the world". But the sale never happened as there was no ultimate push eventually.
20th century
The US did not stop eyeing the strategically located Arctic island.
Almost 80 years later, when World War 2 swept the globe, Germany invaded Denmark. The US took up responsibility of Greenland's defence and established a strong military presence on the island.
In 1946, it discussed a possible swap with Denmark for some US territory in the Philippines. US state department official John Hickerson even attended a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during which he said that practically every member nodded to the proposal that the US should try to purchase Greenland, reported AP.
In the same year, US President Harry Truman made a bid, $100 million in gold in exchange for Greenland. Denmark rejected it.
Given the island's geopolitically strategic location between the United States, Europe and Russia, the White House views Greenland as an essential element aiding its national security since the Cold War too.
Although Denmark refused to sell Greenland through all these years, the United States was permitted to build and operate defence bases. The Pituffik Space Base, previously called Thule Air Base, has been operational since 1943.
21st century
After Trump was sworn in for his first term, he publicly expressed his interest in buying Greenland for the first time in 2019. As Trump wanted a “large real estate deal", his proposal was quickly shunned by Greenlandic and Danish authorities, who insisted the island was not for sale.
After he was sworn in for the second term and took charge last year, Trump revived his earlier offer. He held a conference in Florida's Mar-a-Lago estate where he did not rule out a possibility of military action to take control of Greenland.
In a separate speech to a joint session of Congress in 2025, Trump had issued a threat. “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” he said.
Why ‘purchasing Greenland’ might not work out this time too
Although the White House continues to claim that it needs to purchase Greenland, a common question arises as to how would the United States practically do that.
According to a report by Reuters, the idea of directly paying the residents of Greenland can be an explanation behind how US can attempt that. Authorities in Copenhagen and Nuuk have continuously insisted that's not an option.
The residents of Greenland find this idea “insulting”, as per reports. According to a New York Times report, a former member of Greenland’s Parliament Aqqaluk Lynge said that even if the US offers a whopping value of a million dollars each to all the island's 57,000 residents, they would still not take it.
“We don’t sell our souls,” Lynge said.
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Sunday took to his Facebook to express disgust. “Enough is enough ... No more fantasies about annexation,” he wrote.
