President Donald Trump’s open flirtation to acquire Greenland — with or without U.S. troops — is drawing pushback from within GOP ranks on Capitol Hill.
“It’s not going to happen,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) repeatedly, when asked about Trump’s floated plans.
“It’s appalling,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told us. “These are our allies.”
The Republican resistance came after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Tuesday statement that “acquiring Greenland is a national security priority” and that Trump’s team is “discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option.”
House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said he wasn’t sure what Trump has in mind. But Rogers noted he’d be opposed to any action that could jeopardize NATO.
“My guess is this is him priming the pump to make some offer toward the Greenlanders to connect with us in a stronger way, but I don’t know,” Rogers said of Trump.
The topic did not come up during an earlier Tuesday conference meeting that House Republicans had with Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson said.
And while Johnson said targeting Greenland is “not on my ‘things to do’ list,” he acknowledged the Arctic island and Danish territory “is viewed by a lot of people as something that would be a strategic positioning for the U.S.”
Over in the Senate, multiple GOP senators welcomed Trump’s possible action in countries like Cuba and Colombia but indicated stepping into Greenland was a “different deal.”
“Trump’s asking, what’s the legal relationship we’re gonna have if you want us to invest heavily in Greenland and more money and more technology, more military basing,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said.
Some Democrats warned the situation could damage relationships with allies.
“On one level, it’s embarrassing. On another level, it’s just scary,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), who’s prepping a war powers resolution on Venezuela. “These guys are deranged. This is more than a difference over policy. These guys are just out of their minds.”
