Fact Check: Was 'Epstein Island' sold to the United States by Denmark in 1917?
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, VIRGIN ISLANDS: Earlier this month, a claim related to a century-old territorial transaction between Denmark and the United States began circulating on social media.
According to the claim, Denmark had sold an island, which was later nicknamed ‘Epstein Island’, to the US as part of a broader land deal. Let us examine the rumor and fact-check the claim.
Claim: US brought Epstein Island from Denmark
Amid President Donald Trump’s effort to acquire Greenland from Denmark, an online rumor claimed that in 1917, Denmark sold land to the US that included an island called Little St James, which later came to be known as Epstein Island, after its owner, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The claim spread on social media platforms such as Facebook, X, and Reddit.
A Facebook post that made the claim said, “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!” The post continued.
Fact Check: The island was indeed brought from Denmark
The claim is, in fact, true. In 1917, Denmark sold three islands to the US, 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, a minor island close to St Thomas, was one of those three major islands.
The US later renamed these islands as the Virgin Islands.
Only later, the island came to be known as Epstein Island after the billionaire purchased it in 1998.
The United States purchased the islands from Denmark for $25 million in gold, under a deal that was signed in August 1916 and finalized in January 1917.
