$700 billion for Greenland? Here's what we know about selling price of Arctic nation

The United States could have to pay as much as $700 billion, or about Rs 58.1 lakh crore, if it were to achieve President Donald Trump’s goal of buying Greenland, according to three people familiar with the cost estimate. Trump ‘Wages War’ On Greenland, NATO Fires Back; France, Germany, Sweden, Norway Put Boots On Ground The estimate was generated by scholars and former US officials as part of planning around Trump’s aspiration to acquire the 800,000-square-mile island as a strategic buffer in the Arctic against America’s top adversaries, these people told NBC news. Trump Doubles Down On Greenland; Rejects European Demand, Vows To Takeover Danish Territory It attached a price tag of more than half the Defence Department’s annual budget to Trump’s national security priority, which stoked anxiety across Europe and on Capitol Hill amid his rhetoric about seizing Greenland since he ordered a US military raid to capture Venezuela’s president and his wife. Greenland, the semi-autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark, was not for sale. Officials from Denmark and Greenland rejected Trump’s claims that the US will acquire Greenland “one way or the other.” A senior White House official, however, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was directed to come up with a proposal in the coming weeks to purchase Greenland, describing such a plan as a “high priority” for Trump. On Wednesday, Rubio and Vice President JD Vance were scheduled to meet with officials from Denmark and Greenland, who travelled to Washington seeking a better understanding of Trump’s intentions and proposals. The meeting followed lower-level discussions last week between officials from Denmark and Greenland and the White House National Security Council. “I’d love to make a deal with them,” Trump told reporters Sunday when he was asked whether there is a deal Greenland could offer. “It’s easier. But one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.” In the hours before Wednesday’s meetings, the message from Greenland’s government was consistent. Greenland chose Denmark over US “Greenland does not want to be owned by, governed by or part of the United States,” Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said as she arrived in Washington on Tuesday. “We choose the Greenland we know today - as part of the Kingdom of Denmark.” Greenland’s minister for business and mineral resources, Naaja Nathanielsen, said Tuesday that the messages from the US were causing such concern for Greenlanders that they were having trouble sleeping. “This is really filling the agenda and the discussions around the households,” Nathanielsen said at a news conference in London. “So it’s a massive pressure that we are under, and people are feeling the effects of it.” Despite the anxiety, Nathanielsen said, “we have no intentions of becoming American.” The US could already put more troops in Greenland and expand its military and security capabilities there under the current agreement between the two govts, a US official familiar with the issue said. “Why invade the cow when they’ll sell you the milk at relatively good prices?” the official said....

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