Little Saint James was sold by Denmark to the United States as part of the 1917 transfer of the Danish West Indies

The 1917 “Lansing Declaration” meant Denmark agreeing to sell the West Indies while the U.S. dropped any potential objections to Denmark’s full control over Greenland.

So Denmark traded away an island that would decades later become synonymous with one of America’s darkest modern scandals, in part to lock in Greenland forever. Now a U.S. president with personal ties to that scandal is using economic coercion on Denmark (and allies) to take control of Greenland.