COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Officials from Denmark and Greenland were on Capitol Hill all week meeting with lawmakers amid President Donald Trump’s threats to seize control of the island.
Now members from both parties are returning the favor during a delicate mission: reassuring Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and other senior officials here that any effort by Trump to take over Greenland would be met with strong opposition from Congress.
It’s the latest stop in Congress’ global reassurance tour, a phenomenon that’s unique to the Trump era but difficult to do without further inflaming tensions.
“I’m going to remind them that we have co-equal branches of government,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), co-leader of the delegation. “And I believe there’s a sufficient number of members, whether they speak up or not, that are concerned with this.”
While it may have been easy initially to dismiss or laugh off Trump’s persistent musings about Greenland, even Trump’s closest allies on the Hill are taking it seriously now and trying to diffuse the situation.
The GOP posture. Top Republicans have spoken out against the idea of taking control of Greenland. All of the Danish and Greenlandic officials’ meetings over the past two weeks have been bipartisan, including GOP committee chairs.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who led a CODEL here in August, has similarly sought to lower the temperature as Trump ratchets up his threats. Thune wants his colleagues to deliver a similar message here this weekend.
“There’s certainly not an appetite here [in Congress] for some of the options that have been talked about or considered,” Thune told us, urging senators making the trip to “demonstrate a willingness to work constructively.”
There’s now serious talk of a war powers resolution for a NATO ally. And bipartisan legislation was introduced this week that would prevent the Trump administration from using funds to assert control over sovereign NATO territory.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) predicted on “Fly Out Day” that there would be a veto-proof majority for a measure to rein in Trump’s power to use military force in Greenland. That’s far from a certainty, though.
“It’s almost inconceivable that we are using the word ‘Greenland’ in the same sentence as ‘war powers resolution,’” added Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who joined the delegation.
But Murkowski noted that there are more NATO-skeptical Republicans than ever before, and she suggested that some view Trump’s Greenland threats as a way to undermine the alliance. This isn’t what Danes and Greenlanders want to hear
Tillis and Murkowski are among the relatively few Republicans who have leaned in this intensely. Tillis isn’t running for reelection, while Murkowski is a self-proclaimed centrist.
On the ground. As of this report, the bipartisan group just wrapped up a meeting with Frederiksen.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) is leading the CODEL, in addition to Tillis and Murkowski. Coons is joined by Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
“I know there are real, deep concerns here in Denmark and in Greenland,” Shaheen will say in a speech here shortly. “These concerns are understandable when trust is shaken. But I believe saner heads will prevail.”
There are House members here too, including House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), along with Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Sarah McBride (D-Del.).
