The history of the U.S. attempting to buy Greenland dates back to the 19th century when the U.S. had both considered and made several attempts to purchase the territory of Greenland from Denmark. The expansive territory near the North Pole known as Greenland is territory owned by the Kingdom of Denmark, a small European country located north of Germany. Greenland is considered one of the largest islands in the world, and it has a population of approximately 56,000 people residing on the island. Although Greenland has its own citizens, it is under the monarchy of Denmark which allows Greenland to be what’s called a self-governing body, in which it can have its own parliament and government rather than being under the Danish government.
During the years 1867, 1910, 1946, 1955, 2019, and 2024-25, the United States government had internal discussions about a potential acquisition of Greenland. These acquisitions were advocated by U.S. Secretaries of State William H. Seward and James F. Byrnes, privately by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and in recent times, publicly by President Donald Trump, among many others.
The U.S.’ longstanding interest in Greenland and other northern territories, including Canada, was about expanding their control over North America and the increasingly important Arctic region, according to Ron Doel, a historian at Florida State University. In 1868, the then U.S. Secretary of State William Seward went on what was considered a ‘territory-shopping spree’. A year earlier in 1867, Seward had negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia, then known as the Russian Empire, for $7.2 million but if his acquisition of Alaska hadn’t been politically branded as a “folly,” he may have gotten his wish to add Greenland (and Iceland) to the expanding United States during this time. “What’s interesting is that so much of U.S. ideology usually involved looking West,” said Doel. “But every now and again, it was, ‘Let’s look North.’ And Greenland fits in that along with the purchase of Alaska.”
Today in 2025, in the early weeks of U.S. president Donald Trump’s second term, Trump has attempted to buy Greenland for a second time as he failed to do so during his first term in 2019 when the Danish Government declined his offer to purchase the island. So now Trump is trying again to purchase Greenland and here’s why. One reason why this island territory is important to the U.S. is that according to Time Magazine’s Made by History article Why Trump Wants Greenland–And Why He Probably Won’t Get It: “While American expansion hasn’t been discussed much in recent times, the proposal to buy Greenland makes more sense if one understands the history of the Arctic. Buying the island would aim to counter Russian and Chinese ambitions to dominate a region critical to Washington.”
This means that Trump is attempting to buy Greenland because he wants to make sure that both Russia & China won’t become bigger superpowers as they are now, so buying Greenland would be beneficial for the U.S. as it would mean we would have control over the Arctic region with the island of Greenland under the U.S. instead of Denmark. However, Denmark still does not want to give Greenland away despite Greenland itself being what’s called a “self-governing” autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark as it has its own government, but remains under Danish sovereignty and control.
Another reason Greenland is important to the U.S. is that during World War II, U.S. military bases were established there. In 1951, following the war, the U.S. signed the Greenland Defense Agreement with Denmark, allowing it to retain existing military bases and establish new ones, termed “defense areas,” if deemed necessary by NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Although this is not a primary reason why Donald Trump is interested in Greenland, it would still be beneficial for the U.S. military, as there have been bases on the island for a long time.
Finally, Greenland is important to the U.S. due to its abundant natural resources. According to Wikipedia, “The United States may gain access to vast amounts of natural resources, including petroleum and rare minerals. The United States Geological Survey estimates 1.75 billion barrels of offshore crude oil and 4.19 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.” This indicates that the Danish territory of Greenland is important for the U.S. as Trump perceives these resources as beneficial to our economy, considering the considerable quantities of oil and minerals that could help stimulate growth.
To understand more about why the U.S. wants Greenland, we have to look back at the history of Greenland itself. According to Britannica, it is believed that the Inuit, a group of culturally and linguistically unique Indigenous people of the Arctic and subarctic regions were the ones who crossed foot onto the Northwest of Greenland through North America with Canada’s arctic islands in the north as ‘stepping stones’ and it was a series of migrations that had a timespan stretching between at least around 2500 BCE to the early 2nd millennium CE with each migration having a different representation of cultures, with several of them being distinct cultures including those who are classified as Independence I (c. 2500-1800 BCE), Saqqaq (c. 2300-900 BCE), Independence II (c. 1200-700 BCE), Dorset I (c. 600 BCE-100 CE) and Dorset II (700-1200). The most recent arrival was the Thule culture (c. 1100), from which the Inugsuk culture developed during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Ultimately, it seems that President Trump is interested in acquiring the territory of Greenland because it offers natural resources that could benefit the United States. Moreover, since World War II, military bases have been established on the island and remain active today. However, this pursuit is likely to pose challenges for Trump. According to the Wikipedia article “Proposed United States Acquisition of Greenland,” both the Greenlandic and Danish authorities have publicly affirmed Greenland’s right to self-determination, stating that Greenland is “not for sale.”
According to the Time Magazine article, Greenlanders Tell Trump (and Denmark) Their Home is ‘Not for Sale’, some Greenlanders said that their territory is “Not for sale!” with one person, Qooqu Berthelsen, stating “Greenlanders don’t want to be Danish. Greenlanders don’t want to be American,” and followed up with “Greenland is not for sale.” However, it is also heard that in January 2025, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. arrived in Greenland in a “Trump-emblazoned” plane while Trump himself posted on Social media saying “MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!” with an extra message to the Greenlanders: “We’re going to treat you well.”
