Donald Trump is hellbent on getting his hands on Greenland and he doesn’t care what the rest of the world, or the people of Greenland themselves, have to say on the matter. However, in his dogged determination to acquire the country as America’s 51st state, he may not have considered the likelihood that keeping it may actually end up costing the U.S. more money in the long term. Firstly, there have been talks of Donald Trump outright buying Greenland. That itself would come with a huge price tag, somewhere in the range of $700 billion. But while the resources may be worth the steep price in Trump’s eyes, he has failed to account for the possibility that he’ll be paying out to support inhabitants of the country long term. The finance was broken down by Mario Nawfal on X. He claimed that Greenland would be a “$1 BILLION ANNUAL HEADACHE” for Trump, going on to explain that America would likely have to pay around $17,500 per citizen, per year. TRUMP'S GREENLAND GAMBIT: BUYING A $1 BILLION ANNUAL HEADACHEWatching Greenland's foreign minister chain-smoke with her Danish counterpart after meeting with Vance and Rubio tells you everything about Trump's acquisition push. They're stressed because Trump's serious.… pic.twitter.com/Th4IE6UXka— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 15, 2026 To summarise his words, 57,000 people live in the country and many live in settlements only reachable by helicopter as there is only around 100 miles of paved roads in Greenland. 40% of citizens work for the government and the country is almost entirely dependent on exports and requires “$1 billion in annual subsidies just to function.” What’s more, the Danish government spends around $1.5 billion on ships and fighter jets to keep the country protected, something which the U.S. would have to do instead if it became the 51st state. Trump’s goal of taking Greenland is expensive All of this will add up and with the American economy the way it is, it just seems wildly irresponsible to be investing so much money in Greenland right now. As Nawfal puts it, “he’d be purchasing the world’s most expensive welfare state.” Denmark invests in Greenland for strategic purposes, but the reality is that anyone who “owns” Greenland is not going to be making a profit off of the land. Pair this with the fact that, if the country were to be bought (and not just invaded like Trump keeps threatening to do), then this may actually be the worst deal in American history. It seems most regular people aren’t interested in seeing Greenland be absorbed into the U.S., especially those who actually live in the country itself. While Trump no doubt has his eyes set on the abundant supply of natural resources under the ground, he would be wise to leave it alone.