Republican Senator Rand Paul says President Donald Trump is shooting himself in the foot by taking an aggressive stance toward Greenland.
Trump escalated his threat to take over the mineral-rich island, telling reporters on Friday that “we’re going to do something in Greenland whether they like it or not.” The 79-year-old president said he would “take it the hard way” if he couldn’t reach a deal to acquire the territory.
On Sunday, Paul warned that Trump’s “slanderous” saber-rattling would backfire by alienating Republican lawmakers in Washington and the people of Greenland.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was one of five Republican senators who joined Democrats in advancing the War Powers Act resolution last week. The resolution would block the president’s ability to use force against Venezuela. /Tom Williams/Getty Images
“Let’s say you want to buy Greenland, I don’t deny that that might be something we want,” the 63-year-old Kentucky senator told ABC News. this week. “You can’t do that by angering and defaming the people who live there and saying, ‘If you don’t sell it to us, we’re going to send the Marines to occupy it.’ That doesn’t make them very willing to sell to us.” “
Paul continued, “So really, if your goal is that we’re going to ring the saber in some way so they’re going to sell it to us, I think that’s going to have the opposite effect. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone in Greenland who supports that goal, but you’d also be hard-pressed to find someone in Washington who would support a bipartisan military invasion.”
The senator, one of a handful of Republicans who regularly challenges Trump, appears to have a valid point.
Greenland party leaders issued a joint statement Friday evening rejecting Trump’s latest assertion that the United States “needs” the island, a semi-autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, 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 Greenlanders. Greenland’s future must be decided by the Greenlandic people,” the statement said. “We want to emphasize again that we want the United States to end its contempt for our country.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also rebuked Trump, reminding him that the United States had “no legal basis to annex” the territory.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she “hates” the idea of the United States seizing Greenland through purchase or force. Her party colleague Susan Collins also condemned talk of a US takeover of the island. /Bill Clark/Getty Images
In Congress, several Republican members, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, have publicly denounced talk of a U.S. takeover of Greenland.
Paul, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told cbs morning show Last week, U.S. military action “will not happen on my watch.”
“I will do whatever it takes to prevent 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?”
“I hope not,” Paul responded, reiterating his belief that Congress should decide whether to deploy troops, whether in Greenland, Venezuela or Colombia.
“This is about whether the people have a say in whether we go to war,” added the senator, one of five Republican senators who joined Democrats in advancing the War Powers Act resolution last week. The resolution would block the president’s ability to use 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 U.S. military forces is always an option available to the commander in chief.”