WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers are scrambling to rein in President Donald Trump’s threats to seize control of Greenland, with some showing the most strident opposition to nearly everything the Trump administration has done since taking office.
They gave speeches about the importance of NATO last week. They introduced bills to prevent the US from attacking Denmark. Even more traveled to Copenhagen to meet with their Danish counterparts.
But it’s not clear that will be enough, as the president continues to insist he will take control of the Arctic island. It has sparked fears of the demise of NATO — a decades-old alliance that has been a pillar of American power in Europe and around the globe — and raised questions on Capitol Hill and around the world about what Trump’s aggressive, self-styled foreign policy will mean for the world order.
“When the most powerful military nation on earth threatens your territory through its president over and over and over again, you start to take it seriously,” Sen. Chris Coons told The Associated Press.
The Delaware Democrat organized the bipartisan trip to Denmark to “turn the temperature down a little bit,” he said, as well as further discussions about mutual military agreements in the Arctic. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska accompanied a handful of Democrats on the trip. Republican lawmakers also joined meetings in Washington last week with the Danish foreign minister and his Greenlandic counterpart to discuss security deals.
However, it is clear that Trump has other ideas. He said on Saturday he would levy a 10% import tax from February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to his Greenland plans.
Trump said on social media that because of modern weapons systems, “the need to ACQUIRE is especially important.”
Rejection of Trump’s plans for Greenland
Key Republicans have made it clear they believe taking Greenland by force is out of the question. But so far, they have avoided directly reprimanding Trump for his discussion of the island’s possession.
Tillis called Trump’s tariff plans “bad for America, bad for American business and bad for America’s allies” on social media.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., told reporters Thursday that “there’s certainly not an appetite here for some of the options that have been discussed or considered.”
In a speech, Thune’s predecessor as Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, warned that an attempt to occupy Greenland would “shatter the confidence of allies” and tarnish Trump’s legacy with a disastrous foreign policy decision.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike see an obvious path to support American interests in Greenland while keeping the relationship with NATO ally Denmark intact.
In a meeting with lawmakers Thursday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt discussed how the countries could work together to develop critical mineral industries and military cooperation, Coons said. Diplomats also told senators there was no evidence of Chinese or Russian activity in Greenland.
Trump has argued that the US should take Greenland before China or Russia, raising concerns across Europe. Troops from several nations were sent to Greenland in support of Denmark.
Murkowski said on social media that “our NATO allies are being forced to divert attention and resources to Greenland, a dynamic that plays directly into Putin’s hands by threatening the stability of the strongest coalition of democracies the world has ever seen.”
What can Congress do?
Lawmakers are considering several options to take a military attack on Greenland off the table. However, the Trump administration has shown little, if any, willingness to get congressional approval before taking military action.
Lawmakers, including Republicans like Murkowski, are backing legislation that would prohibit the use of Defense Department funds to attack or occupy territory belonging to other NATO members without their consent.
The Alaska senator also suggested that Congress could act to reverse Trump’s tariffs. Murkowski and several other Republicans already helped pass resolutions last year aimed at rolling back the tariffs around the globe, but those pieces of legislation have not gained traction in the House. It also would have needed Trump’s signature or support from two-thirds of both chambers to override his veto.
Democrats also found some action in the war powers resolutions designed to force the president to get congressional approval before committing to hostilities. Republicans last week defeated such a resolution that would have barred Trump from attacking Venezuela again, and Democrats believe there may be more Republicans who would support a claim in Greenland.
“What we’ve noticed is that these war powers resolutions put some pressure on the Republicans,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who has forced votes on several similar resolutions. He said the tactic also forced the Trump administration to provide lawmakers with information and commitments to get congressional approval before deploying troops.
Still, while rejecting the Venezuela war powers resolution on Wednesday, Republican leaders argued the legislation should be ruled out because the Trump administration has said there are currently no US troops on the ground in Venezuela.
That argument may set a precedent for future war powers resolutions, giving Republicans a way to avoid voting against Trump’s wishes.
“If you don’t have boots on the ground, it’s a moot point,” Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, said of war powers resolutions in general. He also argued that the prospect of taking Greenland over Denmark’s objections was “no more than a hypothetical”.
Other Republicans expressed support for Trump’s insistence that the US own Greenland, although they downplayed the idea that the US would take it by force.
That left the strongest objections on the Republican side of the aisle coming from several lawmakers who are leaving Congress next year.
Representative Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, told The Omaha World Herald that an invasion of Greenland would lead to Trump’s impeachment — something he would be “inclined” to support.
Tillis, another retiring Republican, directed his criticism at Trump advisers such as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
“That a small handful of ‘advisors’ are actively pushing for coercive action to occupy an ally’s territory is beyond stupid,” he said.