US officials are mulling the idea of sending lump sum cash payments to Greenlanders in order to convince them to break away from Denmark and potentially join the United states, as per four sources cited by Reuters.
While exact figures they are planning to send remains unclear, US officials, including White House aides, have discussed amounts in the range of $10,000 to $100,000 per person, as per two sources cited by the news agency.
The island has a population of 57,000 people, and the idea of directly paying them to sway their sentiments offers an example of how the US plans to ‘buy’ the island, despite leaders in both Copenhagen and Nuuk claiming that it is not for sale.
Money is not the only method the US administration is considering to take control of Greenland, with them not having ruled out military action yet. However, this proposal of offering money for loyalty might not bode well in the international community.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen had earlier said, “Enough is enough … No more fantasies about annexation,” after Trump told reporters on Sunday that the US needed to acquire the island.
European leaders back Denmark, Greenland
Leaders of European nations, along with Canada, have backed Denmark in this regard, and said that the right to decide which country the island can be a part of solely belongs to be people of Denmark.
The situation is further complicated with the fact that both US and Denmark are members of NATO.
On Tuesday, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark issued a joint statement, saying only Greenland and Denmark can decide matters regarding their relations.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged that Trump and his national security aides were “looking at what a potential purchase would look like.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the other hand, said he would meet his Danish counterpart next week in Washington to discuss Greenland.
The possibility of paying Greenlanders to switch their sentiments comes amid a resolution being passed in the Senate, which has blocked Trump’s ability to take military action in Venezuela without congressional approval. Trump has blasted five Republicans for siding with the Democrats in order to get this resolution passed, saying that they should never be elected again.