Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky criticized how the Donald Trump administration is handling Greenland on Sunday. He warned that talking about military action could hurt any real efforts to make a deal through diplomacy.
During an interview, Paul said he doubts President Trump would actually use military force to take over Greenland. He pointed out that both Republicans and Democrats strongly oppose the idea. However, he told the president to stop making these threats if he wants to buy the resource-rich territory from Denmark.
“But let’s say you wanted to buy Greenland, and I’m not disputing that that might be something we might want, to buy Greenland; you don’t get there by angering and denigrating the people who live there and saying, ‘We’re going to march the Marines in and take [it] if you don’t sell it to us.’ It doesn’t make them very willing to sell [to] us,” Paul said, according to The Hill.
Threatening military action is pushing Greenland further away
“So really, if your goal is somehow, we’re going to rattle the saber and then they’re going to sell it to us, I think it’s having the opposite effect,” he continued. After removing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, the Trump administration started talking more about acquiring Greenland. On Tuesday, the White House confirmed that Trump hasn’t ruled out using military force to get the Danish territory.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that President Trump has made it clear that getting Greenland is a national security priority for the United States. She said it’s important to stop adversaries in the Arctic region. Trump’s recent foreign policy moves have raised concerns about pushing America into geopolitical chaos.
Sen. Rand Paul says he thinks “there'll be enough pressure to stop” potential U.S. action in Greenland, but says it ignites a larger debate: “It's about Venezuela. It's about Greenland. It's about Colombia. It's about Cuba. It's about whether or not the people get a say in… pic.twitter.com/2wsXjGysLV
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Leavitt added that the president and his team are looking at different ways to reach this foreign policy goal. She confirmed that using the U.S. military is always an option the Commander in Chief can use. But, Paul said he’s not worried about military action actually happening. He believes pressure from both parties in Congress is strong enough to stop the White House from going through with it.
Paul said it would be hard to find anyone in Greenland who supports a military invasion. He also said it would be equally hard to find anyone in Washington from either political party who supports it. He thinks there will be enough pressure to prevent it, but the problem is that officials keep threatening military action and saying they reserve the right to invade Greenland. Some Republicans worry that Trump’s controversial actions could lead to impeachment.
