White House Mulls Payments Up To $100,000 Per Greenlander To Join US

The Trump administration has mulled sending lump sum payments to Greenlanders of up to $100,000 in exchange for their vote to secede from Denmark and join the United States, Reuters reports, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

The exact dollar figure and logistics of any payments are unclear, however US officials, including White House aides, have floated payments ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 per person to residents of the overseas territory of Denmark with a population of 57,000 people – despite Copenhagen’s insistence that Greenland is not for sale. The move would cost at most $5.7 billion – about what the US sends Israel and Egypt on an annual basis. 

One of the sources familiar with White House deliberations said the internal discussions regarding lump sum payments were not necessarily new. However, that person said, they had gotten more serious in recent days, and aides were entertaining higher values, with a $100,000-per-person payment – which would result in a total payment of almost $6 billion – a real possibility.

Many details of any potential payments were unclear, such as when and how they would be doled out if the Trump administration pursued that route or what exactly would be expected of the Greenlanders in exchange. The White House has said military intervention is possible, though officials have also said the U.S. prefers buying the island or otherwise acquiring it through diplomatic means. -Reuters

The proposed payments are one of several plans under discussion by the White House for acquiring Greenland – including the use of the US military – to take control of the island whose own population has repeatedly debated its own independence and economic dependence on Denmark. 

“Enough is enough … No more fantasies about annexation,” said Greenland’s PM Jens-Frederik Neilsen in a Sunday Facebook post after US President Donald Trump repeated his intention to acquire the island during interviews with reporters.

European leaders have responded to Trump’s comments with disdain. On Tuesday, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark issued a joint statement declaring that only Greenland and Denmark can decide what happens.

Trump has given several reasons for the need to acquire Greenland - including that it is rich in minerals needed for military applications, and that the Western Hemisphere needs to be under the geopolitical influence of Washington. 

“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark isn’t going to be able to do it,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, adding “It’s so strategic.”

One Reuters source said that White House aides were eager to carry over the momentum from the Maduro operation – in which US forces captured the Venezuelan leader and his wife over the weekend.

Another option under discussion is trying to enter into a type of agreement with the island called a Compact of Free Association (COFA) – which have only ever been extended to small island nations including Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau – in which the US government will provide many essential services such as mail delivery and military protection in exchange for the ability to operate freely in COFA countries and trade with the US largely duty free. 

To do this, Greenland would likely need to separate from Denmark.