The News
Most members of Congress didn’t take President Donald Trump too seriously when he talked about controlling Greenland — until the US ousted the leader of Venezuela.
Now, as the Danish government delivers a warning that Trump would risk unraveling NATO if he acts against their territory, lawmakers in both parties are starting to view Trump’s interest in Greenland as more than idle tough talk.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said expanding the US’ role in Greenland “makes a lot of strategic sense,” adding that it could take the form of the Danish-controlled island aligning more formally with Washington or even becoming a US territory.
“I don’t know that anybody’s talking about taking over, but I do think pursuing it makes a lot of sense,” Schmitt said, describing Greenland as part of the Trump administration’s foreign policy focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a leading Trump critic, said that “I was amongst those who thought it was counterproductive to even pretend to take him seriously about Greenland,” but that after the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, “I think you have to reassess … you have to take him seriously after what just happened.”
It’s all part of a political challenge that Republicans and Democrats alike have faced for a decade now: how much to read into Trump’s offhand comments about huge issues. But Trump’s comment, days after Maduro’s ouster, that “we need Greenland” has started to strike some of his allies as deliberate enough to merit engagement.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a NATO supporter, advised that the US work with its fellow alliance member as “good partners to Denmark.”
And Greenland isn’t the only more geopolitically complex territory that Trump has set his sights on since removing Maduro from power.
As he deadpanned on Sunday that Denmark had added a dog sled to help protect Greenland, the president also made similar remarks aimed at unseating the leaders of Cuba, Colombia, and Iran.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group, said those comments reflected “horrible timing” after the successful ouster of Maduro: “It’s like a wish list of US satellites. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Know More
Trump’s talk of more US power in Greenland, echoed by some of his allies, has drawn criticism in Europe, including from Finland’s center-right president.
“To say Colombia is next? That kind of rhetoric is escalatory. It puts no one at ease. The whole idea of ridiculing Canada for months and months and months has led to Canada buying zero bourbon,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., “I don’t know how much is bravado, how much is bombast. But I think militarily taking Greenland, obviously I would not support it.”
Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser, told CNN on Monday afternoon that the US wouldn’t need to take Greenland by force because, as the main engine of NATO, its power means no other country would fight the US on the issue.
Miller made clear Trump’s focus on Greenland is real and has been for a long time: “By what right does Denmark have to assert control over Greenland? … Obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States.”
The bipartisan co-chairs of the Congressional Friends of Denmark caucus, Utah GOP Rep. Blake Moore and Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer, issued their own statement on Monday night criticizing Trump’s rhetoric without using his name: “If the message is that ‘we need Greenland,’ the truth is that we already have access to everything we could need from Greenland,” they said.
But some top lawmakers just want to stay out of it entirely. Asked about Trump’s comments about Greenland, Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said, “You want to take that up with him.”
The White House didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Room for Disagreement
Not everyone in Congress sees the president or his administration as wanting to take Greenland.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told Semafor that “I do not think we’re going to chopper in. I don’t see that.” He said it’s more likely the US attempts to deepen its alliance with Denmark to gain more sway over Greenland.
“Do I think the president is seriously thinking about doing some sort of movement on Greenland? No. I don’t. To me, it’s ludicrous. But the president thinks out loud. He does,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “I don’t think the president is going to try to topple Greenland or Denmark or any of that.”
Burgess and Eleanor’s View
It’s getting harder to laugh off what Trump says about foreign policy as he enters his sixth year as president: He’s captured Maduro, bombed Iran, and helped stop the conflict in Gaza.
And this month is hardly the first time Trump has talked about controlling Greenland, which he views as essential to defending the Arctic region.
The reality, though, is anything close to seizing the island would be so messy it’s hard to imagine. Tillis called the whole discussion a “waste of time.”
“It’s absurd. You can’t annex Greenland. It would require an invasion or capitulation on the part of the Kingdom of Denmark … I just think it’s silly on steroids,” Tillis said.
Notable
- Trump suggested on Sunday that he would take time before deciding on his next moves, saying “let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” per Axios.