The White House is violating a 109-year-old agreement to not interfere with Denmark’s rule over Greenland, a vital precursor to the United States acquiring the Danish West Indies, St. Croix civil rights activists said Sunday. Violating the treaty could have real implications for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance made numerous statements in recent months expressing interest in sovereignty over the rapidly-thawing, mineral-rich island. The U.S. leaders’ statements crossed the line from bluster to overt intent Friday, according to memoranda filed with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands by Shelley Moorhead, president of the African-Caribbean Reparations and Resettlement Alliance.
Trump said from the White House: “We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of, ‘Do you think we can do without it?’ We can’t.”
Vance, visiting a U.S. military base in Greenland, criticized Denmark’s care for Greenlandic people and pledged the United States would make a “Trump-style deal” for the world’s largest island.
These statements were in direct violation of the historic Lansing Declaration, which paved the way for the 1916 treaty that led to 1917’s Transfer Day, Moorhead wrote to the international court.
“The treaty was a package. The logic that threatens Denmark’s claim to Greenland now threatens America’s rule in the Caribbean,” Moorhead wrote to the court Sunday.
Secretary of State Robert Lansing’s August 1916 declaration said the United States would not oppose Denmark’s claim on Greenland in exchange for the Danish-controlled Antilles.
“In proceeding this day to the signature of the Convention respecting the cession of the Danish West-Indian Islands to the United States of America, the undersigned Secretary of State of the United States of America, duly authorized by his Government, has the honor to declare that the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland,” Lansing wrote.
President Woodrow Wilson also sent Denmark $25 million in gold to ensure the Danish West Indies did not fall into German hands during World War I.
Moorhead urged the international court to fully recognize colonized Virgin Islands inhabitants as a party to the agreement.
“The 1916 Treaty recognizes only Denmark and the United States as ‘High Contracting Parties,’ excluding the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) population — who remain directly affected by its terms and consequences — from any role in its interpretation or enforcement,” Moorhead wrote to The Hague court. “Because the Lansing Declaration and the 1916 Treaty formed a single diplomatic framework, this breach calls into question the legal validity of U.S. sovereignty in the Virgin Islands, and further justifies the request for third-party standing and treaty review.”
Moorhead had previously scoffed at the idea Denmark was in some way mistreating Greenland residents. Greenlandic people had full representation in Denmark’s governance — something neither the United States nor Denmark ever offered residents of their Caribbean territories.
St. Croix historian and former executive director of the Virgin Islands Republican Party, Edward L. Browne, said he had long sought the help of people in Denmark to petition the international court for recognition. He’s also asked the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate to address concerns about the 1916 treaty.
He feared, however, that Trump and Vance were either unaware or disinterested in the treaty.
“His speech gave the impression that the U.S. is moving to vacate treaties and agreements with Denmark over Greenland,” Browne said of Vance.
Browne said it appeared Trump was sincere in his pursuit of Greenland.
“I’m concerned. I don’t want to see war,” Browne said. “Then we have a bigger problem than we have now.”
More than a legal footnote, full rights for colonized people were vital to a just world, said Devin Carrington, ACRRA vice president and legal counsel.
“This isn’t just about legal paperwork or history books. It’s about ending colonial crumbs and claiming our rightful seat at the table—not just to cut slices of the bread, but to now have a say in how the loaf is made, who must share in it, and what everyone’s portion should rightfully be,” Carrington wrote in the memorandum to the court.
The letter to The Hague Court asked that it recognize non-sovereign and formerly colonized people as fully entitled to international legal bodies that have long refused them entry.
Both Danish and Greenlandic leaders have rebuffed Trump’s and Vance’s advances. It was not clear what Vance meant by a “Trump-style deal.” Businesses controlled by Trump have filed bankruptcy six times from 1991 to 2009, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
