{"id":109915,"date":"2026-01-08T03:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T03:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/109915\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T03:28:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T03:28:18","slug":"trumps-greenland-idea-isnt-new-the-us-has-pursued-it-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/109915\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Greenland idea isn\u2019t new. The US has pursued it before"},"content":{"rendered":"

By R.J. RICO<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s renewed interest in acquiring Greenland<\/a> from Denmark fits into a long, little-known pattern in U.S. history. From quiet discussions after the Civil War to a $100 million offer in the wake of World War II, American leaders have repeatedly seen Greenland as a strategic prize<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look:<\/p>\n

1867\u20131868: Early US interest after the Alaska purchase<\/p>\n

After the U.S. bought Alaska from Russia, officials under Secretary of State William Seward discussed acquiring Greenland as part of a broader push into the Arctic.<\/p>\n

Seward noted the territory was rich in natural resources, including coal. But the idea never advanced to a formal offer, as Congress had little interest in pursuing another Arctic acquisition.<\/p>\n

1910: Proposed land swap involving Greenland<\/p>\n

Under President William Howard Taft, American diplomats floated a complex land-exchange plan that would have transferred Greenland to the United States in return for concessions elsewhere. Denmark rejected the proposal, and it quickly collapsed.<\/p>\n

1946: Formal post\u2013World War II purchase offer<\/p>\n

At the outset of the Cold War, President Harry Truman\u2019s administration formally offered Denmark $100 million in gold to buy Greenland, citing its strategic importance. During World War II, a U.S.-built airfield on the island had served as a major refueling point for military planes en route to Europe.<\/p>\n

Denmark rejected Truman\u2019s offer, though the U.S. retained military access. That presence continues today at the remote Pituffik Space Base<\/a>, the U.S. Department of Defense\u2019s northernmost installation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By R.J. RICO President Donald Trump\u2019s renewed interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark fits into a long, little-known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[55096,139,141,140,56206,56205],"class_list":{"0":"post-109915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-greenland","9":"tag-orlando","10":"tag-orlando-headlines","11":"tag-orlando-news","12":"tag-who-owns-greenland","13":"tag-why-us-wants-greenland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}