WASHINGTON - US officials are discussing a plan to pull Greenland into America’s sphere of influence using a type of agreement that the United States has used to keep close ties with several Pacific Island nations, according to two US officials and another person familiar with the discussions.

Under the plan being considered, the Trump administration would propose to Greenland’s leaders that the island enter into a so-called Compact of Free Association, or Cofa, with the United States.

While the precise details of Cofa agreements - which have only ever been extended to the small island nations of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau - vary depending on the signatory, the US government typically provides many essential services, from mail delivery to emergency management to military protection. In exchange, the US military operates freely in Cofa countries and trade with the US is largely duty-free.

President Donald Trump, who during his first administration floated the idea of acquiring Greenland, has pressed even harder since taking office in January, refusing to rule out taking the island by force. Denmark, which governs the island, has sharply rebuffed the idea.

A Cofa agreement would stop short of Mr Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US. It is not the only Greenland plan on the table, the sources said, and it would face many practical hurdles.

Reuters reported before Mr Trump took office that some advisers had informally suggested the idea. But it has not been previously revealed that White House officials have begun talks about the logistics behind such a proposal.

Some officials at the National Security Council and the National Energy Dominance Council, which Mr Trump established, are involved in the talks, two of the sources said. The National Economic Council is also involved, one of those sources added.

Cofa agreements have previously been inked with independent countries, and Greenland would likely need to separate from Denmark for such a plan to proceed. While polls show Greenlanders are interested in independence, surveys also show most do not want to be part of the US. A Cofa - which cedes significant autonomy to Washington - could be viewed with similar scepticism.

One of those involved in the discussions is Mr Markus Thomi, the acting senior director for the National Security Council’s Western Hemisphere section, according to two of the sources. Mr David Copley, the key mining official on the NEDC, is also involved in the talks...