Claim Denmark offered to buy U.S. and give free health care originated as satire

Days before returning to the White House, President-elect Donald Trump again raised the prospect of buying Greenland from Denmark, citing national security needs. 

One Threads user claimed Denmark responded to Trump’s offers to buy the Arctic island with a counteroffer.

"Did you hear Trump tried to buy Greenland, and Denmark clapped back saying they’d buy the USA, give us free healthcare, and actually make America great again?" the Dec. 25 Threads post said. "Honestly, Denmark, we’re ready. Name your price."

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Danish officials’ responses to Trump’s statements have varied, but we found no Denmark officials had responded the way the post claimed. Turns out this post’s claim comes from a satirical 2019 article, which marked the last time Trump floated the prospect of buying Greenland. 

In August 2019, Andy Borowitz, a satire columnist for The New Yorker, published a column titled "Denmark offers to buy U.S." The column included made-up quotes from a Danish government spokesperson offering to buy the U.S., "with the exception of its government." 

"We believe that, by giving the U.S. an educational system and national health care, it could be transformed from a vast land mass into a great nation," the fictitious spokesperson said. 

In a Jan. 7 news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump did not rule out using economic or military coercion to acquire Greenland and regain control of the Panama Canal. He said his interest in acquiring Greenland was for national security. Greenland, with a population of about 57,000, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a U.S. ally and North Atlantic Treaty Organization member state. The U.S. has a military base on the island. 

"I'm talking about protecting the free world," he said. "You look at — you don't even need binoculars — you look outside. You have China ships all over the place. You have Russian ships all over the place. We're not letting that happen. We're not letting it happen."

Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Jan. 8 that the Danish government is open to Greenland becoming an independent nation, but he ruled out the possibility of it becoming a U.S. state, Reuters reported.

Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of Danish Parliament, also rebuffed Trump’s offers. 

"Greenland is not for sale, Greenland will never be for sale," she told CNN on  Jan. 7. "It’s not up to U.S. to decide what’s going to happen. It’s up to the Greenlandic population."

We rate the claim that Denmark offered to buy the U.S. False.