"We need it. We'll get it one way or another"

The plan involves engaging multiple ministries to fulfill Trump's years-long push to seize Greenland. Greenland's size, more than two million square kilometers, also offers Trump, once a Manhattan real estate developer, the opportunity to close one of the biggest real estate deals in history.

Danish officials say the sparsely populated island is not for sale and cannot be annexed. But Trump has made it clear that he is determined to take control of Greenland.

"We need Greenland for national security and even international security. We're working with everyone to get it. We're going to get it one way or another," he told Congress in March.

How to convince Greenlanders to ask for US accession themselves?

The White House National Security Council has held several meetings to put Trump's words into action and recently sent specific instructions to a number of government agencies. Full details of the plan are not yet known. But despite Trump's allusions to the possible use of force, the National Security Council has never seriously considered military options, one Washington source said on condition of anonymity.

Instead, the policy focuses on persuasion rather than coercion, with a PR campaign aimed at persuading Greenland's 57,000 residents to seek US accession on their own. Trump's advisers discussed a social media campaign to influence public opinion on the island.

But it can be a difficult task. In recent elections, an opposition political party that advocates independence and rapprochement with the US finished second with only a quarter of the vote.

The American campaign will also include an unexpected reference to the common heritage of Greenlanders with the indigenous Inuit of Alaska, nearly 4,000 kilometers away. Greenland's population comes from people who migrated from Alaska centuries ago, and the official language comes from Inuit dialects in Arctic Canada.

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Trump's advisers have already begun making public arguments, arguing that Denmark is mismanaging the island, that only the US can protect Greenland from Russian and Chinese influence, and that the US will help Greenlanders prosper economically.

The Trump administration is also reminding Greenland that America has defended it once before. Trump recently posted a 90-second video on social media celebrating the "blood and courage" of American soldiers who were stationed on the island during World War II to prevent a possible Nazi invasion after the occupation of Denmark. Although Denmark expected American forces to withdraw after the war, this did not happen. The US still has a military base in Greenland.

Denmark subsidizes Greenland with 600 million dollars a year

The Trump administration is also studying financial incentives for Greenlanders, including the possibility of replacing $600 million in subsidies that Denmark gives the island with an annual payment of about $10,000 per resident.

Some Trump officials believe those costs could be offset by new revenues from more intensive exploitation of Greenland's natural resources, including rare metals, copper, gold, uranium and oil.

Trump officials argue that American capital and industrial power can access largely untapped mineral resources in a way that Denmark cannot. But it won't be easy to profit from mining in the frozen parts of the island. And it may be difficult to explain the significant cost to American voters while Elon Musk is slashing the federal budget by a trillion dollars.

"President Trump believes that Greenland is a strategically important location and believes that under US protection, Greenlanders would be better protected from contemporary threats in the Arctic," said National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes.

Some analysts argue that the idea of ​​annexing Greenland, or at least developing much closer ties, is not as absurd as it seems. And this is largely due to climate change, which makes resource-rich areas commercially viable. Global warming has also opened up new sea lanes through the Arctic for commercial shipping, but also for Chinese and Russian military vessels.

Truman wanted to buy the island from Denmark in 1946

But Trump's promises to take control of Greenland, one way or another, sound like pure imperialism to many in the world. Several American presidents have considered conquering Greenland. President Harry Truman offered Denmark $1 billion for Greenland in 1946.

Denmark controlled Greenland for centuries, and in 1953 it became part of the kingdom. Today, Greenland manages its internal affairs with a budget that Denmark subsidizes up to 60 percent, and Denmark manages defense and foreign policy. Many of Greenland's leaders support independence, but disagree on how quickly it should be achieved and whether it should lean more toward the US.

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Danish leaders insist that Greenlanders must be free to decide their own destiny. During a visit to Greenland last week, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen condemned the Trump administration's push, saying: "You can't annex another country."

Because of Denmark's strong opposition, the Trump administration is turning to a direct victory over the Greenlanders. Addressing the people of Greenland during a speech to Congress, Trump said:

"We strongly support your right to decide your future. If you choose to do so, welcome to the United States of America. We will protect you. We will make you rich."

Trump and his senior officials have not yet publicly linked the Inuit population of Greenland with the American Inuit of Alaska, as provided for in the plan approved by the National Security Council.

"The people of Greenland are very close to the people of Alaska"

But that connection was highlighted in December by Robert O'Brien. Denmark, O'Brien said in an interview with Fox News, may sell Greenland: "The people of Greenland are very close to the people of Alaska and we will make Greenland part of Alaska."

It is unclear how strongly that message will resonate on the island. While Alaskans share in the distribution of oil wealth through annual payments, their fellow Inuit often suffer disproportionate levels of poverty and poor health.

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Danish leaders say the U.S. pressure campaign is already damaging the post-World War II alliance between the U.S. and Denmark.

"We looked up to you, you were our inspiration. You guarded the free world," Frederiksen said of the US during a visit to Greenland, adding:

"But when you claim part of the territory of the kingdom, when we are exposed to pressures and threats, what should we think of the country we have admired for so many years?"