Republicans and Democrats are trying to contain Trump’s Greenland aggression. Will it be enough?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers scramble for control President Donald Trump’s threats Some have expressed the harshest opposition to nearly everything the Trump administration has done since taking office, including opposing the idea of ​​taking over Greenland.

Last week, they gave podium speeches about the importance of NATO. They introduced bills aimed at preventing the United States from attacking Denmark. And many of them traveled to Copenhagen to meet with their Danish counterparts.

But it is unclear whether this will be enough, as the President insists on taking control of the Arctic island. Increased fears of NATO demise – decades of alliance It has been a pillar of American power in Europe and around the world, raising questions on Capitol Hill and around the world about what Trump’s aggressive, go-it-alone foreign policy will mean for the world order.

“When the most powerful military nation in the world, through its president, repeatedly threatens your region, you start to take that seriously,” Senator Chris Coons told the Associated Press.

Delaware Democrat organized Two-party trip to Denmark “To lower the temperature a little bit,” he said, as well as talk more about mutual military agreements in the Arctic. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska accompanied a handful of Democrats on the trip. Republican lawmakers also attended meetings in Washington last week with the Danish foreign minister and his Greenlandic counterpart, where they discussed security agreements.

But Trump clearly has other ideas. It said on Saturday it would impose a 10% import duty on goods from eight European countries from February over their opposition to the Greenland plans.

Trump said on social media that “the need to acquire is particularly important” because of modern weapons systems.

Step back on Trump’s Greenland plans

Key Republicans made clear They think taking over Greenland by force is out of the question. But so far they have refrained from directly rebuking Trump for his talk of owning the island.

On social media, Tillis called Trump’s tariff plans “bad for America, bad for American businesses, and bad for America’s allies.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune“There is absolutely no interest in some of the options being discussed or considered here,” RS.D. told reporters on Thursday.

Thune’s predecessor as the Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell warned in a floor speech that an attempt to seize Greenland would “shatter the confidence of allies” and tarnish Trump’s legacy with a disastrous foreign policy decision.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers see a clear path to strengthening America’s interests in Greenland while keeping relations with NATO ally Denmark intact.

One meeting with MPs On Thursday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt discussed how the countries could work together to improve critical mineral industries and military cooperation, Coons said. Diplomats also told senators there was no evidence of Chinese or Russian activity in Greenland.

Trump’s claim that the United States should seize Greenland before China or Russia sparked concerns across Europe. Troops from many countries He was sent to Greenland to support Denmark.

“Our NATO allies are being forced to redirect their attention and resources to Greenland, a dynamic that plays directly into Putin’s hands by threatening the stability of the most powerful coalition of democracies the world has ever seen,” Murkowski said on social media.

What can Congress do?

Lawmakers are considering several options to take a military strike against Greenland off the table. Yet the Trump administration has shown little willingness to seek congressional approval before taking military action.

Lawmakers, including Republicans like Murkowski, are pushing legislation that would ban Defense Department funds from being used to attack or occupy territory belonging to other NATO members without their consent.

The Alaska senator also suggested Congress could: Law that would nullify Trump’s tariffs. Murkowski and some other Republicans already helped make decisions Last year, it was planned to abolish customs duties worldwide, but these bills did not attract attention in the Parliament. It would also require Trump’s signature or the support of two-thirds of both chambers to override his veto.

Democrats also received some attention war powers decisions Its purpose was to force the president to seek congressional approval before engaging in hostilities. Republicans narrowly defeated such a resolution last week that would have banned Trump from attacking Venezuela again, and Democrats think there could potentially be more Republicans who would support invoking Greenland.

“I’ve noticed that these war powers decisions have put some pressure on Republicans,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat. vote on several similar decisions. He said the tactic also forced the Trump administration to hold briefings with lawmakers and make commitments to seek congressional approval before deploying troops.

Yet in the meantime Denial of war powers to Venezuela Following Wednesday’s decision, Republican leaders argued that the law should be invalidated because the Trump administration said there were no US troops currently on the ground in Venezuela.

This argument could set a precedent for future war powers decisions and give Republicans a way to avoid voting against Trump’s wishes.

“It’s a moot point unless you have boots on the ground,” Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said of war powers decisions in general. He also argued that the possibility of seizing Greenland despite Denmark’s objections was “nothing more than conjecture”.

Other Republicans expressed support for Trump’s insistence that the United States owns Greenland, but downplayed the idea that the United States would take Greenland by force.

That has led to the strongest objections on the Republican side of the aisle coming from a handful of lawmakers who will leave Congress next year.

Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, told the Omaha World Herald that an invasion of Greenland would lead to Trump’s impeachment and is something Trump would be “leaning” to support.

Tillis, another retired Republican, directed his criticism at Trump advisers such as White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

“It is beyond stupid that a small handful of ‘advisers’ would actively push for coercive actions to seize an ally’s territory,” he said.