Donald Trump, Greenland and how to buy an island

Donald Trump Jr. has taken a "very long personal day trip" to Greenland after his father once again floated the idea the US should buy the Danish territory.

Announcing his pick for US ambassador to Denmark, President-Elect Donald Trump stated that "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity" for US national security, especially in the face of growing encroachment by Russia and China.

Trump was asked if he could reassure the world he won't resort to military action or economic coercion in trying to gain control of the autonomous territory. "No, I can't assure you on either of those two," was his response. "But, I can say this, we need them for economic security."

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The audacious move forms a central pillar of his plans to expand US territory which also include bringing the Panama Canal back under American control and making Canada the 51st state.

Why does Trump want it?

In fact, it is not the first time a US president has tried to buy Greenland. A bid was considered under President Andrew Johnson when the US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, and a $100 million (£79,949,400) offer was rejected by Denmark after World War Two.

A 1951 defence treaty instead granted the US the Thule Air Base, now Pituffik Space Base, which has proved of huge strategic importance since the Cold War.

Yet Greenland still "remains of vital interest to the US", said Bloomberg. As large as Alaska and Texas combined, "it sits astride strategic sea lanes like the Northwest Passage and the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap, as well as beneath Arctic flight paths (including those for missiles)".

It is also a "potential trove of resources", containing 7% of the world's fresh water in its ice sheet, undeveloped oil and natural gas resources and huge deposits of rare earth minerals.

There is also a personal motivation for Trump. Territorial expansionism fits with his promise to "Make America Strong Again," his transition spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement, while the former real estate mogul would get the satisfaction of achieving the biggest land expansion in US history.

How would a purchase work?

Greenland was a Danish colony until it became self-governing with its own parliament in 1979. With a population of just 57,000, it has "wide-ranging autonomy," but its economy is "largely dependent on subsidies from Copenhagen" said the BBC, and it "remains part of the kingdom of Denmark", which exercises control over its foreign and defence policy.

A direct purchase from Denmark would cost "tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions, of dollars", said Steve Forbes from Forbes.

A simpler way to "pull it off and save money" would be for Greenland to hold and win an independence referendum, then apply for US statehood. The first step at least could soon become a reality after Prime Minister Múte Egede "appeared to hint" at holding a binding plebiscite "in tandem with the island's upcoming parliamentary election in April", reported Politico.

Were Greenland then to join the US, "the advantages for everyone are clear" Forbes argued – even for Denmark, which would not longer be liable for its annual subsidy to Greenland of around $600 million (£478 million).

The real question, said Bloomberg, is "why bother owning it at all?"

A "mutually beneficial deal that avoids antagonising the local population can be struck with relative ease" and would achieve all of Trump's objectives while sidestepping the thorny issue of nationhood.

Is Greenland interested?

The idea of the US buying Greenland has been "roundly dismissed" by officials in Denmark and the territory itself in the years since Trump first brought it up, The Washington Post reported.

Egede responded to Trump's latest calls by saying that the island is "not for sale and will never be for sale".

The economic and defence arguments for US statehood for Greenland may be compelling but in the end the trouble for Trump the ultimate deal-maker may be "not just handing over a check for a title deed but persuading its people to swap their long-standing ambition of greater autonomy from Denmark for allegiance to the Stars and Stripes", said Bloomberg.