Greenland

NBC News -   Achieving President Donald Trump’s goal of buying Greenland could come with a price tag of as much as $700 billion, according to three people familiar with the cost estimate.

That figure is more than half of the Defense Department’s annual budget, but despite rebukes from officials in Denmark and Greenland, Trump says that the U.S. will acquire the 800,000 square-mile island "one way or another." 

Trump's push to "own" the territory stems in part from concerns that its residents could seek independence, and if successful, the island’s coastline could fall into the hands of Russia or China, according to some experts and congressional testimony from former U.S. officials. 

"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 to meet with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

The island currently hosts a small U.S. military footprint at Pituffik Space Base and has long been receptive to hosting more military assets or negotiating over its strategic resources, which include rare-earth minerals.

But Trump’s tone has changed dramatically in recent weeks and now his rhetoric is being taken more seriously inside the administration and among America’s allies. 

A less costly option would be a deal which would include financial assistance from Washington in exchange for the U.S. having a security presence there.

But Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants the U.S. to have more rights to the land, comparing it to owning versus leasing a property.

The Hill - President Trump said early Wednesday that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland would be “unacceptable."

“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!” Trump said in a Truth Social post ahead of Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s meeting with officials from the island and Denmark at the White House.

“Militarily, without the vast power of the United States, much of which I built during my first term, and am now bringing to a new and even higher level, NATO would not be an effective force or deterrent – Not even close! They know that, and so do I,” Trump continued.

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” he said, adding that “anything less than that is unacceptable.”

The online post is the latest example of Trump’s intensifying rhetoric on the U.S. acquiring Greenland. On Tuesday, Trump hit back at the Danish territory’s prime minister, Jens-Frderik Nielsen, who said he and his people would choose Denmark over the U.S. if they had to make a decision.