(The Hill) – White House officials have weighed possibly giving lump sum payments to Greenlanders in an attempt to sway them into seceding from Denmark, as the Trump administration brings back its calls to have Greenland join the U.S., Reuters reported.
Government officials, including White House aides, have discussed different figures, from $10,000 to $100,000 per person, sources told Reuters.
One source said internal discussions have become more serious after U.S. strikes on Venezuela ended with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The White House is trying to enter a Compact of Free Association (COFA) agreement with Greenland, a White House official told Reuters. In such an agreement, the U.S. only provides mail delivery and military protection operations in exchange for the U.S. military to operate freely and duty-free trade.
When asked for comment by The Hill, the White House referred to comments that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States,” she told reporters.
In March, Trump did not rule out using the military to takeover Greenland. He has returned to making similar threats following Maduro’s ousting. Other Trump administration officials, including White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, have the joined the growing chorus calling for Greenland to join the U.S.
One source told Reuters that the strikes on Venezuela carried momentum for those in the White House calling for Greenland to join the U.S. Greenlanders support separating from Denmark, but the outlet reported that they mostly do not want to join the U.S.
“Greenland is not for sale,” Jacob Isbosethsen, head of representation of Greenland to the U.S. and Canada, said. “I think our Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and our Foreign Minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, have made it very, very clear. Our country belongs to the Greenlandic people.”
Isbosethsen met with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, about Greenland. Wicker echoed Isbosethsen and said the administration should not antagonize a NATO ally.
Congressional Republicans have also pushed back against Trump’s possible use of the military to acquire Greenland. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said the island has offered to help with national security interests in the West, in which the U.S. “ought to be pursuing opportunities for that to occur.”
One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), said that the U.S. would “ideally” purchase it as it did the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and Alaska in 1867.
“I believe Greenland has massive strategic benefits for the United States,” Fetterman wrote on the social platform X. “I do not support taking it by force.”