Speaker Mike Johnson said the U.S. government won’t use military force to take over Greenland, a slightly different message than the White House is pushing.
“All this stuff about military action and all that, I don’t even think that’s a possibility,” Johnson said. “I don’t think anybody is seriously considering that. And in the Congress, we’re certainly not.”
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a statement Tuesday that President Donald Trump and his team are “discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal.”
Johnson said that acquiring Greenland is “not against Greenland’s interest” and is in America’s interest.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday he plans to meet with representatives from Denmark next week. But Rubio declined to answer further questions on the subject of Greenland, saying he’s “not here to talk about Denmark” and potential military intervention there.
The comments came after Rubio told lawmakers during a Monday classified briefing on the Venezuela operation that Trump is angling to buy Greenland rather than deploy American forces to take it.
Rubio said Trump has been talking about purchasing the Arctic island since the president’s first term in office. “This is not new,” Rubio said of Trump’s interest in Greenland.
Many have made the political argument that running Venezuela and taking over Greenland is the opposite of what Trump campaigned on in 2024. Not so, Johnson said.
Johnson said it is an “America First priority to look to our strategic and national defense initiatives, and what would be advantageous to us. Greenland offers a lot of that.”
The United States currently has a military base in Greenland, which it uses for missile defense and other space surveillance missions.
