The Greenlandic politician, Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, who represents one of two seats for the island in Denmark’s parliament, tweeted in Danish: “No thanks to Trump buying Greenland!

“On the contrary, a better and more equal partnership with Denmark should be the way forward for a stronger free Greenland for the future,” Larsen added.

Soren Espersen, foreign affairs spokesman for the Danish People’s Party, told the broadcaster DR: “If he is truly contemplating this, then this is final proof, that he has gone mad.

“The thought of Denmark selling 50,000 citizens to the United States is completely ridiculous,” he added, according to The Independent.

The former prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen tweeted: “It has to be an April Fool’s joke … Totally out of season!”