US Weighs Special Status for Greenland as Quest for Island Intensifies

Proposal Will Let US Military Operate Freely on Island While Trade Will Be Largely Duty-Free

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WASHINGTON - US officials are discussing a plan to pull Greenland into America's sphere of influence using a type of agreement that Washington has used to keep close ties with several Pacific Island nations, according to two US officials and another person familiar with the discussions.

Under the plan being considered, the Trump administration would propose to Greenland's leaders that the island enter into a so-called Compact of Free Association, or Cofa, with the US.

While the precise details of Cofa agreements — which have only ever been extended to the small island nations of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau — vary depending on the signatory, the US government typically provides many essential services, from mail delivery to emergency management to military protection.

In exchange, the American military operates freely in Cofa countries and trade with the US is largely duty-free.

US President Donald Trump, who during his first administration floated the idea of acquiring Greenland, has pressed even harder since taking office in January, refusing to rule out taking the island by force.

Denmark, which governs the island, has sharply rebuffed the idea.

A Cofa agreement would stop short of Mr. Trump's ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US. It is not the only Greenland plan on the table, the sources said, and it would face many practical hurdles.