Did Denmark sell ‘Epstein island’ to the US in 1917?

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In January 2026, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration ramped up its campaign to acquire Greenland, a territory of Denmark, a rumor circulated online claiming that Denmark had, in 1917, sold land to the U.S. that included an island later nicknamed “Epstein island” after its eventual owner, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. 

Snopes readers searched our website for evidence that Denmark sold the island to the U.S. According to posts on Facebook, X and Reddit, the island of Little St. James was sold by Denmark to the U.S. in 1917. For example, one Facebook post read:

Little Saint James was sold by Denmark to the United States as part of the 1917 transfer of the Danish West Indies 

The 1917 “Lansing Declaration” meant Denmark agreeing to sell the West Indies while the U.S. dropped any potential objections to Denmark’s full control over Greenland.

So Denmark traded away an island that would decades later become synonymous with one of America’s darkest modern scandals, in part to lock in Greenland forever. Now a U.S. president with personal ties to that scandal is using economic coercion on Denmark (and allies) to take control of Greenland.

Spooky!

In 1917, Denmark sold three islands — known as the Danish West Indies — and their adjoining smaller islets to the United States in an agreement titled “Convention between the United States and Denmark for the Cession of the Danish West Indies.” Little St. James was a minor island close to St. Thomas, one of the three major islands. This group of islands would be renamed the U.S. Virgin Islands. At the time, Little St. James was not known as Epstein island or any similar names, as the billionaire didn’t purchase it until 1998. 

Because Denmark did sell the island later known as “Epstein island” to the U.S. in 1917, we’ve rated this claim as true.

The U.S. bought what are now the U.S. Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million in gold coin through the agreement, which was signed in August 1916 and proclaimed in January 1917. A transcript of the agreement is available on the website of the State Department’s Office of the Historian.

Little St. James was one of the small islets surrounding the three major islands included in the sale — St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. According to the 1917 convention between Denmark and the United States (emphasis ours): 

His Majesty the King of Denmark by this convention cedes to the United States all territory, dominion and sovereignty, possessed, asserted or claimed by Denmark in the West Indies including the Islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint Croix together with the adjacent islands and rocks.

This cession includes the right of property in all public, government, or crown lands, public buildings, wharves, ports, harbors, fortifications, barracks, public funds, rights, franchises, and privileges, and all other public property of every kind or description now belonging to Denmark together with all appurtenances thereto.

This sale also ensured that the U.S. accepted Danish control over Greenland. An addendum to the convention preserved in the Danish National Archives stated (emphasis ours):

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.

According to an analysis on History.com, the U.S. had been interested in the islands since the 19th century. In 1915, fearing a German annexation of the region, the U.S. began pushing Denmark more aggressively and U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing even insinuated to the Danish that the U.S. would take over if they did not agree to a sale. Denmark eventually relented in order to prevent a U.S. military takeover. 

Denmark’s 1917 sale to the U.S. is also considered to be the last time the U.S. bought land from Denmark. As Greenland had proven to be a strategic asset for the U.S. military during World War II, the U.S. attempted to purchase it in 1946 with a $100 million offer that Denmark refused. A 1951 agreement between the U.S. and Denmark gave the U.S. greater access to the region to build, expand and run military bases. The U.S. still maintains a military presence in Greenland through the Pituffik Space Base. 

Per U.S. Virgin Island court records, Epstein bought Little St. James in 1998 and another island, Great St. James, in 2016. Little St. James is the one more commonly referred to as “Epstein island.” Epstein registered as a sex offender in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2010, and he died by suicide in jail in 2019 while facing trial for sex crimes. In 2023, billionaire Stephen Deckoff purchased both islands for $60 million. Deckoff said he planned to build a resort on the islands. 

Snopes has previously covered several rumors about Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland.