Greenland prime minister says island is 'not for sale' after Donald Trump discusses purchase

Greenland's prime minister has said the island is "not for sale" after reports Donald Trump has discussed trying to buy the northern territory from Denmark as a way to expand America.

"Greenland is not for sale and cannot be sold," said Kim Kielsen, "but Greenland is open for trade and cooperation with other countries, including the USA."

The US president's proposal, which was first reported in the Wall Street Journal, has come with “varying degrees of seriousness”, though he has apparently gone as far as seeking the view of the White House counsel.

Mr Trump discussed the idea at a dinner last year at which he said he had heard Denmark found the financial support to the territory burdensome, the Journal reported.

Reuters reported two sources familiar with the situation as saying he had privately discussed the idea with aides and advisers, with the notion laughed off by some as a joke but taken more seriously by others.

Danish politicians hit back strongly on Friday at the suggestion that the US could purchase buy the glacier-covered island. One party spokesman for the autonomous territory told the US to "forget it".

Maja Chemnitz Larsen, an MP for the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, which supports full independence for the island, dismissed the idea that her homeland could become the 51st state.

"It's a "no thank you". I think that would be the reaction from the majority in Greenland," she told The Telegraph, adding that she found it "disrespectful" to talk about the island as something which could be bought and sold.

"Most people will find it disrespectful because the decision as to whether Greenland should be bought by anyone else is up to Greenland. It's not up to Denmark."

Greenland, the world's largest island, is part of the Danish Realm, meaning Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark, is its head of state.

Since the island gained self-rule in 2009, its government has taken more and more responsibility for its domestic affairs, with Denmark retaining authority over defence and foreign affairs.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who was ousted as Denmark's Prime Minister in June, likened the reports to "an April Fool's Joke, but totally out of season".

Rasmus Jarlov, a former trade minister who is spokesman on Greenland for the opposition Conservative party, tweeted that there was no chance of Denmark selling up.  "Out of all things that are not going to happen this is the most unlikely. Forget it," he tweeted.

Ministers from Denmark's sitting government, anxious perhaps not to get on the wrong side of the US president ahead of next month's state visit to Copenhagen, have so far remained silent.

Kasper Thams Olsen, head of press at the Danish Foreign Ministry, said he did not expect any official comments.  "It’s not like someone has actually been saying this publicly. We would be commenting on anonymous voices that might be speaking the truth and might not," he said. "It’s not like there’s a statement from the White House."

But it wouldn’t be the first time an American leader tried to buy Greenland.

In 1946, the US proposed to pay Denmark $100 million to buy Greenland after flirting with the idea of swapping land in Alaska for strategic parts of the Arctic territory.

The US already has a major airbase in the north-west of the island, housing 600 personnel. Thule Air Base in Greenland is the US military's northernmost installation.

The White House has yet to comment on the reports.