Worldwide Google searches for “move to Greenland” have surged to a record high this week as President Donald Trump continues to fly new ideas on how to acquire the autonomous Danish territory.

Notably, U.S. officials are now allegedly considering offering Greenlanders payments of up to $100,000 in exchange for supporting a potential secession from Denmark, according to a January 9 report by Reuters. 

While no official proposal has been publicly confirmed, the keyword trend highlights growing global curiosity about the future of the Arctic island.

‘Move to Greenland’ search trend inspired by cash incentives

While the White House continues to express interest in purchasing Greenland, the authorities in Copenhagen and Nuuk have repeatedly made it clear that the island with a population of about 57,000 is not for sale. 

“Enough is enough. No more pressure. No more insinuations. No more fantasies of annexation. We are open to dialogue. We are open to conversations. But they must take place through the proper channels and in full respect of international law. And the proper channels are not random and disrespectful posts on social media,” Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, wrote on his Facebook page.

Still, the idea of direct payments to residents themselves has emerged as one of the more serious pathways for Washington to advance its ambitions to expand U.S. territory further, barring direct military conflict. 

Although critics often see the push as surreal, many admit that Greenland occupies a strategically vital position in the Arctic, a region of growing importance when it comes to organizing new shipping routes and intensifying competition over natural resources.

Accordingly, cash incentives could be seen as reducing the complex questions of self-governance and self-determination to a mere monetary transaction, potentially alienating a large swathe of the population that has long weighed independence while relying economically on Denmark.

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