WASHINGTON — Top Republicans on Capitol Hill, including leaders of the House and the Senate, are pushing back against President Donald Trump on Greenland, saying it would be inappropriate for the United States to use military force to take over the Arctic island.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Tuesday night he did not think it would be “appropriate” for the U.S. to use military action to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory controlled by Denmark, a founding member of NATO.
On Wednesday morning, Johnson told reporters he did not think “anybody’s seriously considering that.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., also rejected the idea, telling reporters Tuesday he does not see “military action being an option” in Greenland. “That, to me, is that’s not something that anybody is contemplating seriously at this point,” he said.
But Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement clarifying the president’s position: Trump believes that acquiring Greenland is a “national security priority” and that using the military is “always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal,” she said.
Trump’s words are being closely monitored on Capitol Hill and in capitals around the world after he ordered military strikes on Venezuela and the successful capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro, last weekend. On Wednesday, the U.S. seized two sanctioned tankers, including a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was in the Atlantic.
After Maduro’s capture, Trump reiterated his desire to see the U.S. take over Greenland, which he and his team see as strategically important militarily and containing vast mineral wealth. On Monday, Trump told NBC News that he is “very serious” about acquiring the territory.
The prime ministers of Greenland and Denmark have pushed back aggressively, while other U.S. allies in Europe have stood by the island and emphasized its sovereignty.
After briefing lawmakers in the Capitol on Wednesday morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he will be meeting next week with Danish officials, who have requested a meeting.
Rubio said it’s been Trump’s “intent from the very beginning” to buy Greenland.
Some key Republicans on the Hill are sticking with Trump. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., a Trump ally and Afghanistan war veteran, said using the military is always an option for the U.S.
“You’re never going to have the administration say that there’s some option off the table because we’re the United States of America. We don’t limit ourselves,” Mast said.
But other powerful Republicans are alarmed by Trump’s saber-rattling directed at Greenland.
“I am not for the United States taking over Greenland either by military means or financial incentives,” said Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine.
“I hate the rhetoric around either acquiring Greenland by purchase or by force,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “And you know I don’t use the hate very often, but I think that it is very, very unsettling and certainly concerning as one whose actually been in Greenland, who has friends in Greenland. I’m a co-chair of the Arctic Parliamentarian Conference, and my chair is from Greenland. We’ve worked together for years.”
Even some loyal Trump allies are flummoxed by the president’s posture toward Greenland.
“Denmark’s a great ally,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., adding that he hasn’t spoken with Trump about it. “You’d have to call Trump and ask him what he’s doing.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the former Republican leader and outspoken supporter of the NATO alliance, also pushed back on the threats, without naming Trump.
“Threats and intimidation by U.S. officials over American ownership of Greenland are as unseemly as they are counterproductive,” he said in a statement. “And the use of force to seize the sovereign democratic territory of one of America’s most loyal and capable allies would be an especially catastrophic act of strategic self-harm to America and its global influence.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said he’s hearing from NATO allies who are “deeply disappointed in the president” and “wondering whether Congress can stand firmly for NATO.”
He said to expect the Senate to offer and force a vote on a war powers resolution prohibiting Trump from unilaterally engaging in any “military action within or against Denmark or Greenland.”
“That will come up for a vote sometime, and hopefully it’ll be a resounding vote,” said Kaine, who sits on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees. “Republicans are not happy with this continued rhetoric. Now, whether they would have the backbone to vote on a war powers resolution, who knows? But they’ll likely have that opportunity.”
Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., sought to nudge the administration toward a diplomatic resolution, saying Wednesday that he “met with the Ambassador of Denmark and the Head of Greenland Representation to discuss the longstanding ties between our nations and the NATO alliance.”
“The people of Denmark and Greenland are ready and willing to continue our partnership in the Arctic to counter growing Russian and Chinese threats,” Flood said. “After meeting with their representatives, I am confident that Secretary of State Marco Rubio can navigate a diplomatic win-win solution with one of our finest allies.”
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee who has spent time in Greenland, told NBC News that he’s confident there will be no military action in Greenland and that this is a negotiating tactic by Trump to boost the U.S. military presence on the island.
“This is a way to really alert, not awaken, but alert people to the threat that’s coming from the Arctic,” he said, “and the way to do that is to enhance the defense of Greenland.”
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., the lead Democrat for the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said his phone has been blowing up with text messages from NATO partners “about this Greenland situation.”
“They are taking this incredibly seriously and are deeply alarmed,” Boyle said. “We’re living in the world that we built out of the ashes of World War II. And if the U.S. were to attack Greenland, it would be the end of NATO, and it’d be the end of this post-war world that we’ve built. So the consequences are far greater than the small population of Greenland. And do I think this president is aware of any of that? Absolutely not.”
Still, Boyle voiced pessimism that Congress would act to stop Trump: “Under this weak Republican leadership that always bends to Donald Trump’s will, I don’t have any confidence.”
He added that if Democrats take control of the House next year, they’d have more tools to stop him, like the power of the purse.