Here's how the US acquired its territories - and how much they cost

Topline

Donald Trump Jr. traveled to Greenland on Tuesday as President-elect Donald Trump renewed calls for the United States to take over the Danish territory – but the island is unlikely to mark the first addition of a new US territory since the Northern Mariana Islands 50 years ago Years ago, leaders in Greenland and Denmark rejected Trump’s proposal.

A plane carrying Donald Trump Jr. arrives in Nuuk, Greenland on January 7, 2025.

Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

Timeline

1975The USA captured them Northern Mariana Islands near Guam in 1944 and later administered it as part of the Northern Mariana Islands Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The islands became US territory in 1975.

1917The USA paid Denmark $25 million in gold for this US Virgin Islands in 1917, and in 1927 the U.S. Virgin Islands were granted U.S. citizenship. The purchase, worth about $674 million today, was considered strategic for control of the Caribbean due to the islands’ close proximity to the Panama Canal and the American east coast.

1900The Treaty of Berlin of 1899 divided the Samoa Islands into two political entities American Samoaoff the east coast of Australia, was handed over to the United States over the course of 25 years, beginning in 1990 when local chiefs ceded the region’s largest island, Tutuila, to the United States. The islands of Manu’a followed in 1904 and Swain Island joined the territory by an act of Congress in 1925.

1898Spain ceded the island Puerto Rico to the United States under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, which ended the Spanish-American War. Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory and its population became U.S. citizens in 1917.

1989The United States also acquired Guam from Spain after the Spanish-American War and defended the island from Japanese takeover during World War II.

1989The United States was annexed Hawaii in 1898. In 1900 it was declared a territory and in 1959 it became a state. Hawaii was considered a strategic location for a Pacific naval base, a gateway to Asian trade, and served President William McKinley’s goal of expanding American influence abroad.

1867The United States paid Russia $7.2 million for the territory Alaska– less than 2 cents per hectare back then. The deal, now worth an estimated $120 million, made Alaska a territory and gained statehood in 1959.

1848Mexico ceded 529,000 square miles of land – today’s land California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and parts thereof Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming– to the United States after the Mexican-American War. The United States paid $15 million under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

1845The United States annexed the republic TexasThis makes it the 28th state of the Union, a decade after Texas’s successful War of Independence against Mexico.

1819The United States has taken over Florida of Spain in 1819 through the Adams-Onís Treaty, which did not require the United States to pay the state directly, but America agreed to accept liability for $5 million in damages caused by American citizens who rebelled against Spain.

1803In the largest territorial acquisition in American history, the United States purchased 827,000 square miles of land from France Louisiana Purchase– which included parts of more than a dozen modern states, including all of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa. The $15 million price tag would cost about $342 million today.

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News Peg

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., came to Greenland on Tuesday for a personal visit. He will not meet with government officials and described himself as a tourist on his podcast Monday.

Big number

14. This is how many territories the United States has control of, even though only five are inhabited. The other nine – Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll, Wake Island and Navassa Island – are uninhabited remote islands.

Surprising fact

This is not the first time the US has considered taking over Greenland. In 1868, then-Secretary of State William H. Seward called the idea of purchasing both Greenland and Iceland “worthy of serious consideration” and commissioned a detailed report on the possibility, but it was never realized. Other proposals were discussed throughout the 20th century, including a 1946 offer to buy Greenland for $100 million, a deal that would have included swapping oil-rich land in Alaska with Denmark.

Important background

Greenland, already home to a major U.S. military base, has become increasingly important in recent years as new shipping routes in the North Atlantic made possible by the melting of the Arctic Circle have drawn interest from Russia and China. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news that Trump discussed the idea of buying Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, at dinners and meetings with advisers in August 2019. The report said Trump had done so repeatedly “with varying degrees of seriousness.” Interest in buying the world’s largest island due to its importance to national security and economic potential died down relatively quickly in 2019 after rebuttal from the Danish leadership , but Trump resurfaced the idea shortly after his last re-election. On December 22, Trump posted to Truth Social that U.S. ownership and control of Greenland was an absolute necessity while he was the former PayPal CFO Ken Howery appointed ambassador to Denmark.

Main critic

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said last month that Greenland “is not for sale and will never be for sale.” In 2019, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederikse called the idea of the US acquiring the island “absurd,” adding: “Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is part of Greenland.” Her comments led Trump to cancel a planned visit to Copenhagen and he said she “by her directness was able to save both the United States and Denmark a lot of expense and effort.” Former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen tweeted in 2019 that Trump’s idea “It must be an April Fool’s joke… but completely inappropriate!”

tangent

Trump has also threatened to restore U.S. control of the Panama Canal, which was transferred to Panama in the late 20th century under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter. Last month, Trump accused Panama of overcharging for use of the passage, telling a crowd of supporters he would not let the canal fall into the “wrong hands” and warning of possible Chinese influence. He then posted a photo on Truth Social with the comment “Welcome to the United States Canal!” Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino responded with a post on Panama).” Trump then replied: “We’ll see!”

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Here’s how the US acquired its territories – and how much they cost