The Trump administration is weighing a proposal to offer direct cash payments of up to $100,000 to each resident of Greenland, according to officials familiar with internal discussions, as Washington explores increasingly aggressive options to pull the Arctic territory away from Denmark and into closer alignment with the United States.
The idea, under active consideration by senior advisers to President Donald Trump, would represent one of the most unconventional geopolitical inducements pursued by a U.S. administration in decades. Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, is home to roughly 57,000 people and occupies a strategic position between North America and Europe.
Officials said the proposal is part of a wider strategic review focused on the Arctic, where competition among the United States, Russia and China has intensified. Greenland's value stems from its location near key transatlantic routes, its role in missile-warning systems, and its vast reserves of rare earths and other critical minerals.
According to people briefed on the discussions, figures under consideration have ranged from $10,000 to as much as $100,000 per resident. Supporters inside the administration argue that a large-scale financial offer could shift public opinion on the island and weaken resistance to breaking formal ties with Copenhagen.
One White House official involved in the talks cautioned that no final plan has been approved and said the proposal remains fluid. Key questions include how payments would be structured, whether conditions would be attached, and how such a program would be funded, given that total costs could reach several billion pounds.
The idea has been met with sharp resistance in Greenland. Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen dismissed the concept outright, calling it a "fantasy about annexation" and reiterating that Greenland is not for sale. Danish officials have similarly stressed that Greenland's future can only be decided through constitutional processes involving both Nuuk and Copenhagen.
European governments including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the United Kingdom have echoed that position in coordinated diplomatic messaging, underscoring that Greenland's political status is a matter for Denmark and Greenland alone. Legal scholars have warned that attempts to influence territorial sovereignty through direct financial inducements could violate principles embedded in the United Nations Charter.
Beyond cash incentives, U.S. officials have discussed alternative pathways, including the possibility of negotiating a Compact of Free Association, a framework that governs U.S. relationships with several Pacific island nations. Such an arrangement would expand U.S. defense and economic ties without formal annexation but would likely require Greenland to first achieve full independence from Denmark.
