Tell that to President Trump. I’m sure he would love that advise. :-)
How do they know their response if they haven’t heard the price?
The importance is to keep it out of Chinese hands for their purchase of land and minerals. The people there have zero ability to defend their land from anyone. Latvia could sail in and take over if it wanted to.
How about if the price translated to $300,000 per inhabitant? That would translate to about $18 Billion. That’s a rounding error at the Pentagon. But the minerals are probably worth more than that, and the benefits for our military are very valuable, too. The inhabitants could become like Puerto Rico, meaning they can travel to the US and become citizens automatically, which is a great value to them and their families. We’re not talking about buying the assets that they already own, just becoming their new sovereign. They can keep their hovels if they want their hovels.
When they think about it, they may just come around.