'It will be under the United States control,' Sands told the Daily Mail in an interview, suggesting that the island could be the next Puerto Rico by the end of his second term, a territory owned by the United States with 'rights and representation' but under American security.

Trump's rhetoric, she conceded, had obviously upset a lot of people in Denmark and Greenland. But the point was to shake up the status quo.

'Suddenly, anything is possible, because the paradigm has shifted, the window has shifted, and what is impossible becomes possible,' she said.

Trump announced a preliminary 'framework' deal for U.S. access to Greenland at Davos on Wednesday, pausing tariff threats against Denmark and NATO allies after weeks of escalating rhetoric.

Greenland's Arctic location, rare earth minerals and potential military bases make it vital to counter Russia and China as ice melts open new routes; Trump calls it essential for NATO security, while Denmark resists full sale.

Greenland would benefit from US control of the nation, Sands said.

'The United States will be helping them develop, having infrastructure that they so much want, and perhaps having more prosperity in Greenland and less like a welfare state,' she said.

After meeting with NATO officials on Wednesday at Davos, Trump claimed he had negotiated 'total access' to the territory without paying anything.

'We're gonna have all the military access that we want. We're going to be able to put what we need on Greenland because we want it,' he told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Thursday. 'We're talking about national security and international security.'

Greenland residents were already floating the idea of declaring independence from the Danish during Trump's first term, Sands recalled.

But as soon as the Danes began to fear for the future of their hold of the Arctic territory, the government began what she describes as a fierce propaganda effort to frighten the populace from considering independence.