From Wikipedia:
“Following World War II, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and in 1946 the United States offered to buy the island from Denmark for $100,000,000. Denmark refused to sell it.[55][56] In the 21st century, the United States, according to WikiLeaks, remains highly interested in investing in the resource base of Greenland and in tapping hydrocarbons off the Greenlandic coast.[57][58]
In 1950, Denmark agreed to allow the US to reestablish Thule Air Base in Greenland; it was greatly expanded between 1951 and 1953 as part of a unified NATO Cold War defense strategy. The local population of three nearby villages was moved more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) away in the winter. The United States tried to construct a subterranean network of secret nuclear missile launch sites in the Greenlandic ice cap, named Project Iceworm. It managed this project from Camp Century from 1960 to 1966 before abandoning it as unworkable. The Danish government did not become aware of the program’s mission until 1997, when they discovered it while looking for records related to the crash of a nuclear-equipped B-52 bomber at Thule in 1968.”
Greenland is costing Denmark about 500 million dollars a year and it is becoming very hard for them to find the money. Do a deal, cover the costs including defense, set up a duty free zone covering the entire island and split the profits from any mineral rights, extensive RE deposits.... DONE DEAL!
$100MM? Chump change! Even the Danes knew it was probably worth $10MMM in 1946!