‘We’re Not Sent to Washington to Invade Greenland’: Pushback Over Trump’s Imperialist Aims
Incoming president is threatening a fellow NATO member
Lawmakers and others are speaking out about Donald Trump’s obsession with Greenland and other expansionist aims now that the incoming president is increasingly fixated on them.
Trump repeatedly has vowed that the United States will annex Greenland and the Panama Canal, including through military force — leaving many to increasingly push back against such off-the-wall goals.
Greenland is owned by the Kingdom of Denmark while Panama has controlled the Panama Canal for nearly half a century and neither government has shown any interest in turning these territories over to the United States.
Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed Trump’s desires outright.
“The idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it’s obviously one that’s not going to happen, so we probably shouldn’t waste a lot of time talking about it,” he said Wednesday.
John Bolton, who served as White House national security adviser in Trump’s first administration, expressed bewilderment over the claims on Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Greenland, in particular, is a member of NATO alongside the United States, Bolton pointed out.
“We‘re talking about a treaty ally of the United States. Greenland today is a member of NATO. I mean, just just so people get that point. We have a treaty called the defense of Greenland treaty with Denmark right now, that actually is a vehicle that could be used. It‘s been amended before. It‘s a post-World War II treaty that gave us the Thule Air Force Base, which we have in Greenland today and could be modified. There are a lot of ways to go about it. I would like to see something pretty expansive. I think Greenland is part of the North American landmass, and I think it‘s not irrational to say that a closer political relationship with the United States makes sense. We occupied Greenland before before Pearl Harbor, during World War II when the local government of Greenland at the time after Denmark had fallen to the Nazis, fearful of being taken over by Canada or Norway, invited the United States in.
“After Donald Trump‘s remarks, I think it‘s very unlikely the current local government of Greenland would do that. We‘ve got a lot at stake here. This is a serious issue. We‘ve got to proceed responsibly. That press conference today and other things Trump has said is not proceeding responsibly.
“And what what just baffles me is that he doesn‘t understand. He‘s impeding himself from achieving the objectives he says he wants.”
Democrats, in particular, were very clear and outspoken on the issue.
“House Democrats believe that we are not sent to Washington to invade Greenland, rename the Gulf of Mexico, or seize the Panama Canal by force,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY).
Trump’s real goal with all this bellicose rhetoric is simply to create a “big distraction,” according to Sen Liz Warren (D-Mass).
It’s a distraction, she said, from serious consideration of Trump’s controversial nominations as secretary of defense, director of national intelligence and more.
“So we don‘t spend more time on Pete Hegseth. The nominee to be the head of the Department of Defense. So we don‘t spend more time on Tulsi Gabbard, who has been in the pocket of Russian leader Vladimir] Putin and is not someone who should be trusted with our secrets so that we don‘t spend more time on Robert Kennedy‘s views on vaccines?” she said. “In other words, we have a job in front of us right now, and that is advise and consent on the nominees who are there to run our government. Donald Trump would love it if we spend no time talking about them.”
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