Washington — Republican lawmakers are scrambling to contain the matter President Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, with some showing strong opposition to almost anything the Trump administration has done since taking office.
They gave speeches about the importance of NATO last week. They introduced bills aimed at preventing the United States from attacking Denmark. Many of them traveled to Copenhagen to meet their Danish counterparts.
But it is not clear that will be enough, as the president continues to insist that he will take control of the Arctic island. He raised fears of the end of NATO – A decades-old alliance It has been a pillar of American power in Europe and around the world — and has raised questions on Capitol Hill and around the world about what Trump’s aggressive and unilateral foreign policy will mean for the world order.
“When the most powerful military nation on Earth threatens your territory through its own president over and over again, you start to take it seriously,” Senator Chris Coons told The Associated Press.
Delaware organized a democracy The two parties’ trip to Denmark “To lower the temperature a little,” he said, as well as further talks on mutual military agreements in the Arctic. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were accompanied by 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 where they discussed security agreements.
However, Trump clearly has other ideas. He said on Saturday that he would impose a 10% import tax starting in February on goods coming from eight European countries because of their opposition to his plans in Greenland.
Trump said on social media that because of modern weapons systems, “the need to acquire them is especially important.”
Key Republicans have made that clear They believe that seizing Greenland by force is out of the question. But they have so far avoided directly rebuking Trump over his talk of owning the island.
On social media, Tillis described Trump’s tariff plans as “bad for America, bad for American companies, and bad for America’s allies.”
Senate Majority Leader John ThuneR.S.D. He told reporters on Thursday that “there is certainly no appetite here for some of the options that have been talked about or considered.”
In a speech, Thune’s predecessor as Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, warned that an attempt to seize Greenland would “shatter the trust of allies” and tarnish Trump’s legacy with a disastrous foreign policy decision.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike see a clear path to advancing U.S. interests in Greenland while keeping the relationship with Denmark, a NATO ally, intact.
In a Meeting with legislators On Thursday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Viviane Motzfeldt, discussed how the two countries could work together to develop vital mineral industries and military cooperation, Coons said. Diplomats also told senators that there is no evidence of Chinese or Russian activity in Greenland.
Trump has made the argument that the United States should seize Greenland before China or Russia, which has raised alarm across Europe. Forces from several countries They were sent to Greenland to support Denmark.
“Our NATO allies are forced to shift attention and resources to Greenland, a dynamic that plays squarely into Putin’s hands by threatening the stability of the most powerful alliance of democracies the world has ever seen,” Murkowski said on social media.
Lawmakers are considering a few options to call off the military attack on Greenland. However, the Trump administration has shown little willingness to seek congressional approval before taking military action.
Lawmakers, including Republicans like Murkowski, are pushing for 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 Congress could do so Working to repeal Trump’s tariffs. Murkowski and many other Republicans have already done so Help pass resolutions Last year it was intended to eliminate tariffs around the world, but that legislation did not gain traction in the House of Representatives. They would also have required Trump’s signature or support from two-thirds of both chambers to override a veto.
Democrats have also found some appeal Military power decisions It was intended to force the president to obtain congressional approval before engaging in hostilities. Republicans last week narrowly defeated one such resolution that would have prevented Trump from attacking Venezuela again, and Democrats believe there are likely more Republicans who would support a request for Greenland.
“What I’ve noticed is that these war powers resolutions are putting some pressure on Republicans,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, who has put some pressure on Republicans. Vote on several similar decisions. The tactic also forced the Trump administration to provide lawmakers with briefings and commitments to seek congressional approval before deploying troops, he said.
Still, while Rejection of war powers in Venezuela In a resolution issued Wednesday, Republican leaders said the legislation should be ruled out of order because the Trump administration said there are currently no U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela.
This argument could 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 about war powers resolutions in general. He also said that the possibility of Greenland being seized over Denmark’s objections was “nothing more than a hypothesis.”
Other Republicans have expressed support for Trump’s insistence that the United States owns Greenland, though they downplayed the idea that the United States might seize it by force.
That leaves the strongest objections on the Republican side of the aisle coming from a handful of lawmakers who will leave Congress next year.
Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, told the Omaha World-Herald that an invasion of Greenland would lead to Trump’s impeachment — something he is “inclined” to support.
Tillis, another retired Republican, directed his criticism at Trump advisers such as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
“The fact that a small handful of ‘advisers’ are actively pushing for coercive measures to seize an ally’s territory is beyond stupid,” he said.