Republican Senator Rand Paul says that President Donald Trump is shooting himself in the foot with his aggressive stance towards Greenland.
Trump escalated his threats to take over the mineral-rich island, telling reporters on Friday, “We’re going to do something in Greenland, whether they like it or not.” The 79-year-old president said that “they will do the hard way” if he cannot reach an agreement to acquire the territory.
On Sunday, Paul warned that Trump’s “denigrating” saber-rattling is backfiring by alienating GOP lawmakers in Washington and the people in Greenland.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was one of five GOP senators who joined Democrats in advancing a resolution on the War Powers Act last week. The resolution blocks the president’s ability to use military force against Venezuela. / Tom Williams/Getty Images
“Let’s say you wanted to buy Greenland—and I’m not disputing that that might be something we might want,” the 63-year-old Kentucky senator said on ABC News. This week. “You don’t get there by getting angry and rejecting the people who live there and saying, ‘We’re going to march the Marines and take it if you don’t sell it to us.’ It doesn’t make them very willing to sell to us.”
Paul continued, “So really, if your goal is somehow to sharpen the saber, then they’re going to sell it to us, I think it’s having the opposite effect. I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Greenland for it, but you’d also be hard pressed to find anyone in Washington who would be for a military invasion on either side of a military invasion.”
The senator, one of the few Republicans who regularly challenges Trump, seems to be correct.
Greenland’s party leaders issued a joint statement on Friday evening rejecting Trump in response to his latest assertions that the United States “needs” the island, a semi-autonomous territory within the Danish kingdom, and his refusal to rule out the use of military force.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlandic. The future of Greenland must be decided by the Greenlandic people,” the statement said. “We would like to emphasize once again our desire to end the contempt of the United States for our country.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also rebuked Trump, reminding that the United States has “no legal basis to annex” the territory.
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she “abhors” the idea of the United States taking Greenland by purchase or force. Her party colleague, Susan Collins, also condemned the talk about US activities on the island. / Bill Clark/Getty Images
In Congress, several GOP lawmakers, including Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, and Maine Senator Susan Collins, have openly condemned talk of a US takeover of Greenland.
Paul, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said CBS Mornings last week that US military action “will not happen on my watch.”
“I will do everything to stop any kind of military takeover of Greenland,” he said.
ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked Paul on Sunday, “Do you really think he’s going to use military force, or are we overreacting to this?”
“I hope not,” Paul replied, reiterating his belief that Congress should decide whether the military is deployed, whether to Greenland, Venezuela, or Colombia.
“It’s about whether or not the people have a say in whether we go to war,” added the senator, who was one of five GOP senators to join Democrats in advancing a resolution on the War Powers Act last week. The resolution blocks the president’s ability to use military force against Venezuela.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
A White House official previously told the Daily Beast that “the use of the US military is always an option at the disposal of the commander in chief.”