US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has jokingly promised not to build an enormous hotel in Greenland, two days after he spoke about buying the Danish territory.

On Sunday, Trump confirmed he was interested in buying Greenland, but said it was not a priority for his administration.

“Strategically it’s interesting and we’d be interested, but we’ll talk to (Denmark) a little bit,” he told reporters, adding that he viewed it as a “large real estate deal.”

“It’s hurting Denmark very badly because they’re losing almost $700 million a year carrying it… and strategically, for the United States, it would be nice,” he said.

After the US President’s comments, a meme was circulated showing a Trump tower on the island, with the caption “Greenland in 10 years”.

This morning Trump shared the image on his own account, joking “I promise not to do this to Greenland!”.

The island, which was colonised by Denmark in the 18th century, is home to about 57,000 people, most of whom belong to the indigenous Inuit community.

Greenland’s foreign ministry has said it ready to talk business, but it is not for sale.

- With reporting from AFP.