Residents of Greenland expressed their disbelief after reports emerged that US President Donald Trump had discussed buying their country.
One resident of the small town of Tasiilaq on Greenland's eastern coast said she thought it was "very patronising".
"It doesn't feel like he understands the reality. And it's stupid," she said.
In nearby Kulusuk, when Tina Joergensen heard that Donald Trump wants to buy Greenland, she laughed.
Joergensen, a native of Denmark who was flying from tiny Kulusuk to the larger Tasiilaq for a new job as a nurse, said she thought it was a joke.
"He could buy anything I guess, or this is what he thinks he can. But you can't - sorry. I mean, it's people. It's a country. It's a culture."
The official line from Greenland was that it was happy Trump has taken an interest in the nation, talking to aides and allies about buying the island for the US, but that it's not for sale.
Following reports that Trump had spoken about the notion of buying Greenland, the semiautonomous Danish territory between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans issued a short statement to clarify it wasn't on the market.
"We see it as an expression of greater interest in investing in our country and the possibilities we offer," the government said.
"Of course, Greenland is not for sale."
Lars Loekke Rasmussen, who served as Danish Prime Minister until June, weighed in on social media, tweeting "it must be an April Fool's Day joke" and that it was "totally" out of season.
A Trump ally told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Republican President had discussed the purchase but was not serious about it.
And a Republican congressional aide said Trump brought up the notion of buying Greenland in conversations with American lawmakers enough times to make them wonder, but they have not taken his comments seriously.
Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
"Because of the unofficial nature of the news, the government of Greenland has no further comments," Greenland said on its website.
The White House hasn't commented on the reports, but it wouldn't be the first time an American leader tried to buy the world's largest island.
In 1946, the US proposed to pay Denmark US$100 million to buy Greenland after flirting with the idea of swapping land in Alaska for strategic parts of the Arctic island.
APTN
