The estimated price tag for US President-elect Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, is between $12.5 billion and $77 billion. This valuation, according to The New York Times, was provided by David Barker, a real estate developer and former economist at the New York Fed, who derived it from historical US territorial purchases, adjusted for inflation and economic growth.
Trump’s interest in Greenland began back in 2019 when he first suggested the possibility of buying the island. Since the Cold War, it has been well-known that Greenland has strategic value to US defense. In 1946, President Harry Truman proposed offering $100 million in gold to purchase Greenland, an offer Denmark rejected.
That rarely happens today, the US has its own instances of purchasing territories from another country, such as the Louisiana Purchase, Alaska, and the US Virgin Islands. Barker noted that the value of Greenland would enhance if its strategic military role is taken into consideration, which is in-line with the size of the US economy. However, if strictly based on its mineral wealth, size becomes less important.
A Financial Times report once estimated Greenland’s resources at $1.1 trillion, but Barker deemed this figure unrealistic, noting that resource extraction benefits would be shared with private companies holding mining rights.
While national defense was Trump’s interest in the proposed sale, the idea has long been opposed by Greenland’s leaders and residents. The island’s Prime Minister, Mute Bourup Egede, said firmly that Greenland is “not for sale.”
Greenland’s GDP is estimated to be about $3.236 billion, but its actual value encompasses the future growth and undiscovered riches like minerals and oil. More considerations like location, lifestyle, and infrastructure are also worth much. The US has had military bases in Greenland, a NATO ally, for decades, and the island’s mineral wealth, including copper and lithium, is crucial for technology like electric vehicle batteries.
Although Trump implied that military action or tariffs may be used as leverage in negotiations, reality dictates that it is not feasible to buy an independent country such as Greenland. National pride, democracy, and international norms are not conducive to such transactions in the modern era. Barker termed it “the deal of the century,” but a successful purchase seems unlikely.
