Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Monday that President Donald Trump is planning to buy, rather than invade, Greenland.
The New York Times reports that Rubio made the remarks in a briefing with lawmakers from the armed services and foreign policy committees. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
The news comes after the president spent days openly expressing his desire to seize control of Greenland, repeatedly insisting that the U.S. needs Greenland for defense.
The president has been brainstorming ways to bring Greenland into his own sphere of influence for months. Reuters reported in May that White House officials were exploring the possibility of entering into a Compact of Free Association with the territory in which the U.S. would provide Greenland with essential services, military protection, and duty-free trade, but the country would remain independent. Greenland is currently an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark.
Trump’s designs on Greenland have only intensified in the days following his administration’s invasion of Venezuela and abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Having whet his appetite in Caracas, Trump quickly turned his attention to a number of potential next targets, including Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, and Greenland.
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,” the White House told Reuters in a statement.
“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the statement continued.
In a Sunday Facebook post, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen responded to Trump’s threats with a clear message. “That’s enough now,” he wrote. “No more pressure. No more hints. No more fantasies about annexation.”
Others in Trump’s orbit have also advocated for a U.S. takeover of Greenland, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff’s wife Katie Miller, who caused a stir after posting a map of Greeland with the American flag superimposed onto it with the caption, “SOON.”
The New York Times reported that while Rubio’s congressional briefing focused on Venezuela, he addressed the question of Greenland after lawmakers voiced concerns. Two senators issued a joint statement on Tuesday in which they stressed that the U.S. must respect its allies.
“When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honor its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” the statement, issued by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Thom Tillis, both of whom lead the Senate NATO Observer Group, read.
“Any suggestion that our nation would subject a fellow NATO ally to coercion or external pressure undermines the very principles of self-determination that our alliance exists to defend,” it continued.
Leaders of several U.S. allies and fellow NATO states also issued a joint statement on Tuesday rebuking Trump’s naked aggression. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was joined by the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Poland on the statement, which asserted, “Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
“Security in the Arctic must therefore be achieved collectively, in conjunction with NATO allies including the United States, by upholding the principles of the U.N. Charter, including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders,” the statement read.
“These are universal principles, and we will not stop defending them.”
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