- The post highlights a 1916 U.S.-Denmark treaty where America purchased the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) for $25 million and explicitly recognized Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland in Article 6, framing Trump's recent annexation threats as a violation of this agreement.
- Historical records confirm the treaty's details, including the U.S. Senate's ratification on September 7, 1916, motivated by fears of German seizure during World War I, with the sovereignty clause ensuring Danish control over Greenland in perpetuity.
- Amid 2026's escalating Greenland crisis, Trump's tariff threats against European allies for deploying troops have sparked protests in Nuuk and unified EU responses, underscoring tensions over Arctic strategic assets like rare earth minerals and NATO bases.
The Treaty of the Danish West Indies (Danish: Vestindiens traktat), officially the Convention between the United States and Denmark for cession of the Danish West Indies (Danish: Konventionen mellem USA og Danmark), was a 1916 treaty transferring sovereignty of the Danish West Indies from Denmark to the United States in exchange for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold ($722 million in 2024). It is one of the most recent permanent expansions of United States territory.[note 1]
During 1916, the two sides agreed to a sale price of $25,000,000, and the United States accepted a Danish demand for a declaration stating that they would "not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland".[12][18] Although it had a claim on northern Greenland based on explorations by Charles Francis Hall[19] and Robert Peary, the United States decided that the purchase was more important, especially because of the nearby Panama Canal.[20] Historian Bo Lidegaard questions the utility of such a declaration, as the country had never disputed Danish sovereignty.[12]
At the time of the purchase, the colony did not include Water Island, which had been sold by the Danish state to the East Asiatic Company, a private shipping company, in 1905. The company eventually sold the island to the United States in 1944, during the German occupation of Denmark.[21]
