A Republican lawmaker has warned that if President Donald Trump does one thing, Republicans could impeach him.
Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon said Republicans may seek to remove him from office if he attempts to seize Greenland by force, the Omaha World-Herald reports.
“I’ll be honest with you: There are a lot of Republicans who are angry about this,” Bacon told the Omaha World-Herald. “If he follows through on those threats, I think his presidency will be over.”
Bacon, who twice voted against impeaching Trump during his first term, said an invasion of the autonomous territory of NATO ally the Kingdom of Denmark would be “catastrophic” and the “worst idea ever.”
“He needs to know: The off-ramp is realizing that Republicans are not going to tolerate this and he’s going to have to back off,” he continued. “He hates to be told no, but in this case, I think Republicans need to stand firm.”
Trump said the United States needs to control Greenland for national security reasons. This week, the president said anything less than full U.S. control of Greenland would be “unacceptable.”
Greenlandic officials, meanwhile, have made clear that the country will remain part of Denmark. On Thursday, European countries including France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom sent troops to Greenland to support Denmark, Reuters reported.
Bacon, who is not seeking re-election, did not explicitly say whether he would vote to impeach Trump over Greenland, but said he would strongly consider it, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
“I don’t want to give you a definite yes or no, but I’m leaning toward that,” he said. “Invading our allies would be a complete mistake. It would be catastrophic for our allies and everything. In my opinion, it’s the worst idea ever.”
Public opinion remains largely opposed to Trump’s goal of controlling Greenland. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that 75 percent of U.S. adults oppose the idea of ​​taking control of the territory.
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