{"id":14614,"date":"2026-01-16T10:25:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T02:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=14614"},"modified":"2026-01-16T10:25:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T02:25:23","slug":"republicans-vow-to-block-trump-from-seizing-greenland-by-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=14614","title":{"rendered":"Republicans vow to block Trump from seizing Greenland by force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senate Republicans are vowing to block any effort by President Trump to seize Greenland by military force, as Trump officials on Wednesday refused to back off their demands to control the island during a meeting with top diplomats at the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican senators are flummoxed by Trump\u2019s insistence that he\u2019s willing to use military force to seize control of Greenland from Denmark, something they fear will destroy the NATO alliance and give Russia a bigger advantage in its war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Republican senators \u2014 Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) \u2014 plan to travel to Copenhagen on Friday to assure the Danish prime minister that there would be strong Republican opposition to any effort by Trump to use military force to seize Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to remind them that we have coequal branches of government and I believe that there [is a] sufficient number of members, whether they speak up or not, that are concerned with this,\u201d Tillis said of Trump\u2019s threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe actual execution of anything that would involve a taking of a sovereign territory that is part of a sovereign nation, I think would be met with pretty substantial opposition in Congress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now, people are trying to be deferential, but this is just an example of, whoever keeps on telling the president that this idea is achievable should not be in Washington, D.C.,\u201d Tillis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Republican senator who requested anonymity said Trump\u2019s talk of taking over Greenland has generated more opposition from Republicans in Congress because of the dire implications such an aggressive move would have for the future of NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou see, more than in other incidents, pushback by Republican senators on this topic,\u201d the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no understanding how this is an idea to begin with,\u201d the senator added with exasperation, warning that taking Greenland will undermine NATO and put Ukraine at greater risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe absolutely need NATO support Ukraine. Diminishing the capabilities of NATO to do that is a death knell to people in Ukraine,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Reuters\/Ipsos poll released Wednesday found that only 17 percent of Americans would support a U.S. takeover of Greenland. Only 4 percent of respondents said taking Greenland by force would be a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And 66 percent of respondents said they worried efforts to acquire Greenland would damage NATO and U.S. relations with European allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillis and Murkowski will travel to Denmark at the end of the week along with Democratic Sens. Chris Coons (Del.); Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) will also be part of the delegation, according to a source familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawmakers will meet with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen, who joined a meeting with Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday, after which the two sides \u201cagreed to disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murkowski has teamed up with Shaheen to co-sponsor a bill that would prohibit the use of Defense Department funds to blockade, occupy, annex or conduct military operations against Greenland or any sovereign territory of a NATO member state. Their bill would also block the State Department from using funds to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murkowski and Shaheen are both senior members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Defense and State departments\u2019 budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the chair of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which controls the Pentagon budget, on Wednesday delivered a searing rebuke to Trump\u2019s threat to seize control of Greenland by military force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell warned it would \u201cincinerate\u201d long-standing NATO alliances and cripple efforts to contain Russian aggression toward Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued Denmark and Greenland are ready to accept any request Trump might make to bolster the United States\u2019s military presence in Greenland to deter Russian and Chinese expansion into the Arctic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnless and until the president can demonstrate otherwise, then the proposition at hand today is very straightforward: incinerating the hard-won trust of loyal allies in exchange for no meaningful change in U.S. access to the Arctic,\u201d McConnell declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Trump\u2019s \u201cill-advised threats about Greenland\u201d would \u201cshatter the trust of our allies\u201d if acted on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFollowing through on this provocation would be more disastrous for the president\u2019s legacy than withdrawing from Afghanistan was for his predecessor,\u201d he said, referring to the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces under the Biden administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McConnell spoke out on the floor after Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday he would use military force if Denmark doesn\u2019t agree to sell the mineral-rich territory to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to make a deal the easy way, but if we don\u2019t do it the easy way, we\u2019re going to do it the hard way,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president doubled down on his statement Wednesday by posting on Truth Social that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland would be \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES. Anything less than that is unacceptable,\u201d he posted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. James Lankford (Okla.), a member of Senate GOP leadership, pushed back on Trump\u2019s threat to use military force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreenland, the Danes are allies,\u201d he said. \u201cWe cannot do military action in Greenland. Should not, cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buying Greenland could cost the U.S. Treasury $700 billion, according to sources familiar with the estimate cited by NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Trump is already facing stiff opposition from Republican lawmakers who would be crucial to signing off on such a large purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do not support the president\u2019s plan to annex Greenland by either force or by buying it over the opposition of people in Greenland and Denmark, a NATO ally,\u201d Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) told The Hill on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do believe that Greenland would be amenable to the U.S. expanding its base that already exists there or its military presence to send a message to China, Russia. But that can be done through diplomatic negotiations, not through threats and intimidation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) warned Wednesday that Denmark has made it crystal clear it does not intend to cede Greenland to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI made a statement last week that this is an issue that should be dropped. And then I had a meeting with the Danish ambassador to the United States and several officials from the Greenland government. It\u2019s pretty clear that there\u2019s no room for negotiation on the topic of ownership,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do believe there are real opportunities for partnership in the area of critical minerals and bases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rasmussen, the Danish foreign minister, laid out a similar stance alongside Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt following their meeting with Vance and Rubio, announcing the two sides had formed a working group to \u201cexplore if we can find a common way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time, respecting the red lines of the kingdom of Denmark,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat does not mean we want to be owned by the United States,\u201d Motzfeldt added. \u201cBut as allies, how we can strengthen our cooperation is our interest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate Republicans are vowing to block any effort by President Trump to seize Greenland by military force, as Trump officials on Wednesday refused to back off their demands to control the island during a meeting with top diplomats at the White House. Republican senators are flummoxed by Trump\u2019s insistence that he\u2019s willing to use military […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":14615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3017,2220,1724],"class_list":["post-14614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-greenland","tag-republican","tag-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nRepublicans vow to block Trump from seizing Greenland by force - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=14614\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republicans vow to block Trump from seizing Greenland by force - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Senate Republicans are vowing to block any effort by President Trump to seize Greenland by military force, as Trump officials on Wednesday refused to back off their demands to control the island during a meeting with top diplomats at the White House. 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