GOP Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas) said Sunday that the United States’s invasion of Greenland would mean “war” with NATO.
“The fact is, the president has full military access to Greenland to protect us from any threat. So if he wants to purchase Greenland, that’s one thing.” McCaul said during a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
“But for him to militarily invade would turn Article 5 of NATO on its very head and, in essence, press a war with NATO itself. It would end up abolishing NATO as we know it,” he added.
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states an armed attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against all members, and triggers an obligation for each member to come to its assistance, according to the alliance.
President Trump’s push to acquire Greenland for “national security purposes” has been lambasted by lawmakers who have harshly rebuked a military invasion of the selfautonomous territory.
“If we want to put more military in there, we can. We don’t have to invade it. If he wants to buy it, that’s fine. But I don’t see a willing seller right now,” McCaul said Sunday.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called the White House campaign to take over Greenland a “land grab.”
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“This is not about security,” Van Hollen said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
“Donald Trump wants to get his hands on the minerals and other resources of Greenland, just like the real reason he went into Venezuela had nothing to do with stopping drugs from coming,” he continued.
The Maryland senator urged his Republican colleagues to support the war powers resolution to take action against the president’s foreign military measures.
On Wednesday, senators defeated a war powers resolution to block Trump from using military force “within or against” Venezuela.
