Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been scrambling to contain President Donald Trump’s threats tied to Greenland, with some Democrats and Republicans also debating whether Congress can stop military or economic moves without lawmakers’ approval.
Trump has said he may put a tariff on countries that do not “go along with Greenland,” without detailing how such a policy would work. Separately, he said Saturday he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to his Greenland plans, according to the Associated Press report.
Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, described the repeated nature of Trump’s threats as something lawmakers should take seriously. “When the most powerful military nation on earth threatens your territory through its president over and over and over again, you start to take it seriously,” Coons told The Associated Press.
Coons organized a bipartisan trip to Denmark, he said, to “bring the temperature down a bit” and to pursue further talks about mutual military agreements in the Arctic. The report said Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski accompanied a handful of Democrats on the trip, and that Republican lawmakers also joined meetings in Washington last week with Denmark’s foreign minister and Greenland’s counterpart to discuss security agreements.
The trip’s discussions, as described by Coons, included potential cooperation on critical mineral industries and military cooperation between Denmark and Greenland. Coons also said the diplomats told the senators there is no evidence of Chinese or Russian activity in Greenland.
Murkowski and Tillis have shown public skepticism about Trump’s approach. Murkowski posted on social media that “our NATO allies are being forced to divert attention and resources to Greenland, a dynamic that plays directly into Putin’s hands,” while Tillis, also on social media, called Trump’s tariff plans “bad for America, bad for American businesses, and bad for America’s allies.”
On Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers have been cautious about how directly they rebuke Trump. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that “there’s certainly not an appetite here for some of the options that have been talked about or considered.” In a floor speech, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warned that an attempt to seize Greenland would “shatter the trust of allies” and tarnish Trump’s legacy, the report said.
Lawmakers, the report said, have debated what tools Congress could use to prevent a conflict with Denmark or to force presidential compliance with congressional authority. Among the options being pursued, Republicans including Murkowski have backed legislation aimed at preventing Department of Defense funds from being used to attack or occupy territory belonging to other NATO members without their consent.
Kaine said war powers resolutions—designed to force the president to get congressional approval before engaging in hostilities—can put pressure on Republicans and also trigger administration briefings and commitments. “What I’ve noticed is these war powers resolutions, they do put some pressure on Republicans,” he told The Associated Press, adding that they compel the Trump administration to provide lawmakers with briefings and commitments to get approval before deploying troops.
Republican leaders argued in another context that such resolutions should be ruled out of order, pointing to the administration’s position that there are no U.S. troops on the ground in the referenced country. Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, said that “If you don’t have boots on the ground, it’s a moot point,” and the report said he also argued that taking Greenland over Denmark’s objections is “nothing more than a hypothetical.”
While some Republicans have expressed support for Trump’s insistence that the U.S. possess Greenland, the report said the strongest objections from the Republican side have come from a small number of lawmakers who are set to leave Congress next year. Rep. Don Bacon told the Omaha World-Herald that an invasion of Greenland would lead to Trump’s impeachment and that he would “lean” toward supporting it, while Tillis directed criticism at White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, saying, “The fact that a small handful of ‘advisors’ are actively pushing for coercive action to seize territory of an ally is beyond stupid.”