The U.S. ally is signaling its willingness to negotiate military and economic matters related to the island but not to sell it.

Greenland must make its own decisions about independence from Denmark, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told President-elect Trump in a Wednesday phone call. The big picture: Trump, since his first term, has repeatedly floated the idea of the U.S. buying Greenland even though the island's leaders have said it is not for sale.

One European diplomat told Axios that Denmark was widely seen as America’s closest ally in the European Union, and that no one could have imagined it’d be the first Trump would pick a