Making a symbolic visit to Copenhagen, a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers — including senior members of the House and Senate — tried to reassure leaders of Denmark and Greenland, and their increasingly anxious citizens, that most Americans do not support President Donald Trump’s plan to annex or buy Greenland, let alone the prospect of military action against a fellow NATO ally.
“It is important to underscore that when you ask the American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, the vast majority — some 75 percent — will say we do not think that that is a good idea,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said at a news conference after the American group met counterparts in the Danish Parliament.
“Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset,” Murkowski said.
Asked how Trump might be stopped in his quest to obtain Greenland, Murkowski suggested Congress would assert its authority. “You are hearing from the executive branch,” she said. “The Congress also has a role.”
But even as the delegation was in the Danish capital, to “lower the temperature” as Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) phrased it, Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on nation’s that oppose his plans.
Trump at a White House meeting said he “may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland,” without specifying which nations he had in mind or how he would gauge the refusal to support his demands. Trump has insisted that the United States must control Greenland for national security reasons. Many European leaders, including major NATO allies, have voiced dismay over Trump’s rhetoric about Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Coons, at Friday’s news conference in Copenhagen, accused Trump of exaggerating the security risks posed to Greenland. “Are there real pressing threats to the security of Greenland from China and Russia,” Coons asked. “No. Not today. Are there real opportunities for us to partner through NATO to contribute to Arctic security? Yes. And if we ask respectfully and we plan together, we can achieve that goal.”
Denmark has said the huge, strategically located Arctic territory, rich in minerals but with roughly just 57,000 residents, is not for sale. European leaders have said that decisions about Greenland’s future should be made only by Denmark and Greenland.
In addition to members of Parliament, the U.S. lawmakers also met Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former NATO secretary general and former Danish prime minister, said in an interview with Danish television that Trump’s threats had shaken his view of the United States. “It’s a difficult development,” Rasmussen said. “I have always looked up to the U.S.A. as a champion of the free world.”
On Capitol Hill, many Republicans have fumed at the Trump administration’s escalating threats against Greenland, calling the rhetoric pointless and potentially corrosive to the NATO alliance.
Murkowski and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) have been two of the Senate’s most outspoken critics of the administration’s bellicose stance toward Greenland. Tillis also joined the trip.
In a furious speech on the Senate floor last week, Tillis said he was “sick of stupid” and urged the president to fire advisers who were pushing a takeover of the island.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the chair of the powerful Senate defense appropriations subcommittee, said in a floor speech this week that Trump’s rhetoric risked “incinerating the hard-won trust of loyal allies in exchange for no meaningful change in U.S. access to the Arctic.”
Other Republicans, however, have downplayed the administration’s threats. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said earlier this month that military action is “not something that anybody’s contemplating seriously at this point.”
Some lawmakers are aiming to block the administration from taking Greenland by force.
Murkowski and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire), who also traveled to Copenhagen, introduced a bill this week that would withhold government funding for any operation that seeks to exert control over the territory of a NATO ally.
“I hope it’s ultimately not necessary, but we are operating in times where we’re having conversations about things that we never thought even possible,” Murkowski told reporters Wednesday.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) said he had drafted a war powers resolution to block the administration’s threats to use military force against Greenland that he will introduce if necessary. And Reps. Ro Khanna (D-California) and Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) introduced a symbolic resolution with Murkowski and Gallego on Thursday to reaffirm the U.S. government’s “respect for the sovereignty of the kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland.”
The lawmakers’ trip to Denmark was intended as a symbolic show of support for the NATO ally. On the visit, several lawmakers expressed gratitude to Denmark for its long-standing alliance with the U.S., including sending troops to support the U.S. war in Afghanistan.
“This is certainly a reassurance tour,” said a Senate aide with knowledge of the trip, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the planning around the visit.
Meanwhile, in Iceland nearly 5,000 people signed an online petition to protest former congressman Billy Long, Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to the Arctic nation, who joked about Iceland becoming the “52d state” and that he might be its governor. Trump and some of his advisers have said Canada should become the 51st state.
Long told the Arctic Today news site that he apologized for the remarks, which he said were made jokingly in reference to other lighthearted banter about Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R), Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, becoming governor of Greenland. “They were kidding about Jeff Landry being governor of Greenland and they started joking about me and if anyone took offense to it, then I apologize,” Long told Arctic Today.
Hendrix reported from London and Robertson and Meyer from Washington D.C.
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