A timeline of U.S. efforts to purchase Greenland, from Seward to Truman to Trump

President Trump gave a brief history lecture to global leaders at a recent World Economic Forum gathering.  

Speaking at the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump explained his interest in acquiring Greenland, the semiautonomous North Atlantic island belonging to Denmark. 

“American presidents have sought to purchase Greenland for nearly two centuries,” he informed the audience. 

Whatever one thinks of President Trump’s approach, he is correct on this point. For more than 150 years, U.S. presidents, cabinet officials, and military leaders – Democrats and Republicans alike – have repeatedly viewed Greenland as a strategic asset and tried to get it from Denmark. 

Here’s an overview of how America’s interest in Greenland has evolved over time, and why no attempt has succeeded – yet. 

1868 – William Seward Looks North After Alaska 

The U.S. first set its sights on Greenland under President Andrew Johnson, a Democrat. Fresh off the purchase of Alaska, Secretary of State William Seward began exploring additional Arctic acquisitions. In 1868, he commissioned studies on Greenland’s resources and quietly floated the idea of buying it from Denmark. 

Seward believed the island could expand American commercial reach and strengthen U.S. influence in the North Atlantic. 

The idea went nowhere, in no small part due to bad timing and unpopular messengers. Congress was deeply hostile to President Johnson, so much so that they impeached him earlier that year. With the purchase of Alaska still being mocked as “Seward’s Folly,” any proposal associated with President Johnson or Secretary Seward was dead on arrival. 

1910 – A Proposed Land Swap With Denmark 

A few decades later, Greenland was still on America’s mind. The U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, Maurice Francis Egan, in 1910 sent a letter to his boss at the Department of State suggesting a three-way trade.  

Ambassador Egan proposed that the U.S. would trade Mindanao, a large island in the Philippines which was a U.S. territory at the time, to Denmark in exchange for Greenland and the “Danish West Indies” which are now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands.  

According to Ambassador Egan, Denmark could then trade Mindanao to Germany in exchange for Schleswig, the border region between the two European countries. Germany had taken Schleswig from Denmark during a war in the 1860s, so this could be Denmark’s chance to get that land back.  

There’s no evidence that the U.S. acted on this idea. Ambassador Egan himself admitted it was a “very audacious suggestion.” The U.S. continued to control Mindanao until the Philippines gained full independence in 1946, and Schleswig remains part of Germany today.  

1916 – The Lansing Declaration 

While Ambassador Egan’s push to buy Greenland fell short, the other territory he wanted – the Danish West Indies – did come to fruition eventually.  

President Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State Robert Lansing arranged the purchase of the Danish West Indies, now called the U.S. Virgin Islands, to grow America’s presence in the Caribbean.  

The U.S. paid $25 million in gold coins for the islands. Based on inflation, that’s about $700 million in today’s money; but if you go based on the price of gold, the sum is closer to $3 billion. 

As part of the deal, the U.S. issued the Lansing Declaration which recognized Denmark’s sovereignty over all of Greenland. 

1941 – Greenland During the War 

Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Denmark shortly after World War II began. The British Navy stopped all ships coming from Nazi territory, effectively cutting Greenland off from Denmark for the duration of the war and leaving it vulnerable to outside powers.  

Although the U.S. was still officially neutral in the war, President Roosevelt feared that Germany would seize Greenland and use it as a base to threaten the UK or North America. So the U.S. secured the island preemptively. In 1941, the U.S. signed an agreement with the Danish Ambassador to Washington Henrik Kauffmann – who was acting independently of the occupied government in Denmark – to set up American military bases in Greenland. 

The agreement reaffirmed that Denmark has full sovereignty over Greenland but gave the U.S. “exclusive jurisdiction” over the island’s defenses during the war. This made Greenland an unofficial U.S. “protectorate,” a territory whose defense and foreign policy are controlled by another state while maintaining self-government for internal matters. 

1946 – President Truman Tries to Buy Greenland 

The clearest, most direct attempt to acquire Greenland came from Democratic President Harry Truman in the aftermath of World War II.  

Greenland became an integral part of the U.S. defense apparatus during the war, serving as a refueling stop for aircraft heading to and from Europe as well as a foothold for anti-submarine operations. The Pentagon endearingly referred to Greenland “the world’s largest stationary aircraft carrier.”  

As the Cold War began, the Arctic became the new front line in America’s defense. President Truman offered $100 million in gold to Denmark for Greenland (that’s $1.7 billion in today’s dollars or $14 billion in today’s gold). 

Denmark rejected the offer outright, and Danish officials were offended by the idea. The foreign minister reportedly said, “While we owe much to America, I do not feel that we owe them the whole island of Greenland.” 

1955 – The Pentagon Keeps the Idea Alive 

Interest in Greenland only continued to grow after President Truman’s offer was rejected. 

By the mid-1950s, ballistic missile technology was ramping up, and the shortest flightpath between Moscow and Washington went over Greenland. If the Soviets launched a nuclear missile, Greenland would offer one of the last chances to intercept it. 

So in 1955, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent a top secret memo urging President Eisenhower to try buying Greenland again. But ultimately, no formal offer was made.   

1970s – A Fading Idea 

By the mid-1970s, the push to acquire Greenland had largely run its course. There were no serious proposals, and seemingly no appetite in Washington for revisiting the question. The closest it came to resurfacing was under President Gerald Ford, when Vice President Nelson Rockefeller was reportedly interested in the idea.  

But VP Rockefeller was politically weak with little influence in the Ford White House. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger took the lead on foreign policy, and Greenland was not his priority.  

Ultimately, VP Rockefeller never made a formal recommendation to acquire Greenland and the idea never advanced beyond private musings.  

2017-2019 – President Trump Revives the Idea 

After nearly 50 years, President Trump renewed America’s interest in acquiring Greenland during his first term.  

As early as 2017, the President raised the idea with his national security advisers, but he became much more serious about it in 2019. In August of that year, President Trump cancelled a visit to Denmark after the Prime Minister refused to discuss selling Greenland. 

President Trump’s reasoning echoed his predecessors, citing its abundant natural resources and military importance. But several anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal at the time that President Trump wanted Greenland to boost his personal legacy, comparing it to when President Eisenhower admitted Alaska as a state. 

2025 and Beyond: President Trump Doubles Down 

President Trump has only escalated the rhetoric in his second term. 

Until recently, the President had not ruled out using military force to take control of the island. He told reporters that the U.S. would acquire Greenland “whether they like it or not,” adding that he could either do it “the easy way” or “the hard way.” 

Asked directly if the U.S. would use the military to take Greenland, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded, “utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander in chief’s disposal.” 

President Trump has taken the most aggressive posture of any president trying to acquire Greenland, and our allies have taken note. The European Union backed out of trade deal negotiations with the U.S. over the President’s “threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state.”  

But in his recent address to the World Economic Forum, President Trump walked back the worst of his threats. “The military’s not on the table. … I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” he pledged. 

That doesn’t mean that Greenland is off of President Trump’s mind. The White House is still very much interested in acquiring the island peacefully, with some scholars estimating it could cost up to $700 billion if Denmark changes its mind and agrees to sell Greenland. 

But at least for now, President Trump seems content with Greenland’s current legal status. Shortly after the World Economic Forum, the President announced that the U.S. and NATO had agreed to a “framework” of a deal involving mineral rights and defense operations on the island. The details are still being worked out, but enemies and allies alike are watching closely to see if this framework will be enough to appease President Trump.