Republican Senator Rand Paul says President Donald Trump is shooting himself in the foot with his aggressive stance toward Greenland.
Trump has stepped up his threat to seize the mineral-rich island, telling reporters on Friday, “We’re going to do something to Greenland, whether they like it or not.” The 79-year-old president said he would “do it the hard way” if he could not reach a deal to acquire the territory.
On Sunday, Paul warned that Trump’s “outrageous” saber-rattling is backfiring, alienating GOP lawmakers in Washington and the people of Greenland.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was one of five GOP senators to join Democrats in advancing a resolution on the War Powers Act last week. The resolution would block the president’s ability to use military force against Venezuela. / Tom Williams / Getty Images
“Let’s say you wanted to buy Greenland — and I don’t dispute that it might be what we want,” the 63-year-old Kentucky senator told ABC News. this week. “You don’t get there by pissing off and humiliating the people who live there and saying, ‘We’re going to take the Marines in and take it if you don’t sell it to us.’ That’s not going to make them very willing to sell it to us.
Paul continued, “So, if your goal is that somehow we’re going to shake the saber, they’re going to sell us out, I think it’s going to have the opposite effect. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in Greenland for that, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in Washington who is for a military strike on either side.”
The senator, one of the few Republicans to regularly challenge Trump, seems right.
Greenland’s party leaders issued a joint statement Friday night rejecting Trump’s latest claim that the U.S. “needs” the island, a semi-autonomous region within the Danish state, and his refusal to use military force.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders. The future of Greenland must be decided by the people of Greenland,” the statement said. “We want to emphasize once again our desire for the United States’ contempt for our country to end.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also rebuked Trump, reminding him that the US has no legal basis to be involved in the territory.
GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski said she “abhors” the idea of the US buying or taking Greenland by force. His party colleague Susan Collins also condemned the US occupation of 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 the US annexation of Greenland.
Paul, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said CBS Morning Last week that US military action “will not be on my watch.”
“I will do everything to prevent any kind of military occupation 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 that?”
“I hope not,” Paul replied, reiterating his belief that Congress should decide whether to deploy troops to Greenland, Venezuela or Colombia.
“It’s about whether or not the public has 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 would block 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 U.S. forces is always an option within the discretion of the commander-in-chief.”
