How much would it take to 'buy' Greenland, and why are lawmakers saying 'not for sale'?

Greenlandic MPs say any US effort to lure the island with cash would fail and risk deepening opposition to joining the United States.

• Greenlandic lawmakers reject US cash offers to join America
• Most Greenlanders oppose joining the US, even pro-independence politicians
• Greenland's PM calls Trump's annexation comments "completely unacceptable"

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Two Greenlandic lawmakers in Denmark’s parliament said there is no amount of money that would persuade Greenlanders to join the United States, rejecting reports that the Trump administration has discussed cash payments to lure the Arctic island away from Denmark, Bloomberg reported.

Any attempt by US President Donald Trump to entice Greenland with direct payments would be doomed to fail and could harden resistance, said Aaja Chemnitz, one of Greenland’s two representatives in the Danish legislature, where she chairs the committee on Greenland affairs.

‘You can’t buy a people’

“No amount of money can buy our national soul,” Chemnitz told Bloomberg in an interview in Copenhagen. “It’s disrespectful to think that you can buy a people.”

Trump administration officials have discussed sending direct payments to Greenland’s residents to encourage a break from Denmark and union with the US, Reuters reported earlier, citing sources. The sums discussed ranged from $10,000 to $100,000 per person.

Chemnitz questioned the premise of such an offer. “What use is a one-off payment when your entire foundation is being torn away?” she said.

Independence debate, but not US statehood

Greenland, home to about 57,000 people, has long debated independence from Denmark. But opinion polls show Greenlanders are overwhelmingly opposed to joining the US.

That position is shared even by pro-independence politicians. Aki-Matilda Hoegh-Dam, from the Naleraq party, told Bloomberg she would reject any cash deal to become American.

“We are not a commodity to be traded as human beings,” she said. “No matter how much money one might offer, it would still be too cheap.”

Rhetoric raises fears

Trump has argued that US control of Greenland is necessary for national security. But his aggressive rhetoric has caused unease among Greenlanders, Chemnitz said, including fears about moving too quickly away from Denmark.

Those concerns were reflected in Greenland’s elections in March last year, when roughly three-quarters of voters backed parties favouring a gradual path to independence. Chemnitz’s Inuit Ataqatigiit party was among them.

Chemnitz also accused the Trump administration of misrepresenting conditions on the island, including understating Greenland’s population and exaggerating the presence of Russian and Chinese warships in nearby waters.

‘Enough is enough’

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has publicly rejected Trump’s comments, calling them “completely unacceptable.”

“No more pressure. No more insinuations. No more fantasies of annexation,” he said earlier this week, as quoted by Bloomberg.