President Trump to ‘Bribe’ Greenland to Join U.S.?

President Donald Trump has launched one of the most brazen power grabs of his second term. And this time, it targets a NATO ally.

According to multiple White House officials, the administration is discussing a plan to pay Greenlanders to abandon Denmark and pledge loyalty to the United States. The proposed payouts are staggering—between $10,000 and $100,000 per resident.

Insiders describe the proposal for what it is: an attempted buyout of an entire population.

“It’s outrageous,” one senior European diplomat told reporters privately. “This isn’t diplomacy. It’s bribery.”

Trump has insisted Greenland is “essential” to U.S. defense, repeating the line so often that aides now treat it as doctrine. But his fixation has alarmed even some Republicans, who worry he is using national security as a smokescreen for a historic land grab.

The timing is raising eyebrows worldwide. Only days after the U.S. staged a late-night invasion in Venezuela—an operation that ended with that nation’s president abducted—Trump’s team is suddenly more confident about “options” in Greenland.

A White House official didn’t deny the shift. “Utilizing the U.S. military is always an option,” the aide said. The comment stunned U.S. allies and ignited immediate fears of an Arctic confrontation.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later refused to rule out using force. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hurried to smooth things over, but even he admitted that Trump still wants to “buy the country.”

For many in Europe, it was the final straw.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen fired back on Facebook. “Enough is enough. No more fantasies about annexation,” he said. “Greenland decides Greenland’s future.”

Denmark, humiliated for the second time in six years, rallied support from Europe’s top leaders. In an extraordinary joint letter, the heads of seven allied governments—including the UK’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s Friedrich Merz—told Trump to stop.

“Greenland belongs to its people,” the letter read. “It is not for the United States to buy.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen went even further in her New Year’s address. Her tone was icy.

“In the past year, we have endured threats and pressure from our closest ally,” she said. “Wanting to take over another country as if it was something you could buy and own. We will stand firm. No matter what.”

Behind the scenes, European ministers privately fear the U.S. president is testing the limits of the NATO alliance itself. Several described the proposal as “destabilizing,” “reckless,” and “shocking even by Trump’s standards.”

The effort began last spring after Vice President JD Vance toured the Pituffik Space Base, a key Arctic installation. After the trip, Trump began telling aides that acquiring Greenland would be “the greatest geopolitical win in American history.”

Critics say it would instead be one of the greatest international crises of his presidency.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.