Proposed United States acquisition of Greenland
Updated: Wikipedia source
Since the 19th century, the United States has considered, and made, several attempts to purchase the island of Greenland from Denmark, as it did with the Danish West Indies in 1917. There were notable internal discussions within the U.S. federal government about acquiring Greenland in 1867, 1910, 1946, 1955, 2019, and 2025, and acquisition has been advocated by American secretaries of state William H. Seward and James F. Byrnes, privately by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and publicly by President Donald Trump, among others. After World War II, the United States secretly offered to buy Greenland; there was public discussion about purchasing the island during Trump's first term in 2019 and again after Trump's 2024 reelection, as part of his American expansionism policy. In May 2025, Trump stated that he could not rule out a U.S. annexation of the island. While Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenlandic and Danish authorities have publicly asserted Greenland's right to self-determination and stated that Greenland is "not for sale". Many Greenlanders support independence, and many Danes see the historical ties with Greenland as an integral part of Danish national identity. The United States has long viewed Greenland as vital to national security. In the early 20th century, it included Greenland among several European possessions in the Western Hemisphere to preemptively seize and fortify in the event of a threatened attack on the US. During World War II, the US invoked its Monroe Doctrine and occupied Greenland to prevent use by Germany following the German occupation of Denmark. The US military remained in Greenland after the war, and by 1948, Denmark abandoned attempts to persuade the US to leave. The following year, both countries became members of the NATO military alliance. A 1951 treaty gave the US a significant role in Greenland's defense, and, about 1953, construction began on Thule military base, now known as Pituffik Space Base, located in northwest Greenland. The US military frequently takes part in NATO exercises in Greenlandic waters.