Since his first term, President-elect Donald Trump has insisted that the United States should purchase Greenland - to the bewilderment of aides asked to investigate such a possibility, and despite repeated denials by top officials in Greenland and Denmark, of which the island is an autonomous territory, that it would ever be for sale at any price.

The defence minister did not give an exact figure for the package, but Danish media estimated it would be around 12-15bn krone. The announcement came a day after Trump said on his