Republicans and Democrats are trying to stop Trump’s Greenland aggression. Will it be enough?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers are scrambling to contain President Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, with some showing their strongest opposition to almost anything the Trump administration has done since taking office.

They gave a floor speech last week on the importance of NATO. They introduced bills to prevent America from invading Denmark. And many traveled to Copenhagen to meet with their Danish counterparts.

But it’s not clear that will be enough, as the president insists on taking control of the Arctic island. That has sparked fears of the end of NATO, the decades-old alliance that has been a pillar of American power in Europe and around the world — and raised questions on Capitol Hill and around the world about what Trump’s aggressive, isolationist foreign policy means for the world order.

Sen. Chris Coons told The Associated Press, “When the most powerful military nation on Earth repeatedly threatens your territory through its president, you start taking it seriously.”

The Delaware Democrat organized a bilateral trip to Denmark to “bring the temperature down a little bit,” he said, as well as further talks about reciprocal military agreements in the Arctic. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were on the trip with a handful of Democrats. Also, Republican lawmakers joined a meeting in Washington last week with Denmark’s foreign minister and his Greenlandic counterpart where they discussed security deals.

It’s clear, however, that Trump has other ideas. He said on Saturday that he would impose a 10% import tax on goods from eight European nations from February due to opposition to his Greenland plan.

Trump said on social media that because of modern weapons systems, “the need to get there is especially important.”

Pushback on Trump’s Greenland Plans

Key Republicans have made it clear they think taking Greenland by force is out of the question. But so far, they have avoided directly reprimanding Trump over the issue of island ownership.

On social media, Tillis called Trump’s tariff plan “bad for America, bad for American businesses and bad for America’s allies.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D. Le told reporters on Thursday that “certainly there is no appetite here that some options have been talked about or considered.”

In a floor speech, Thune’s predecessor as Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, warned that an attempt to seize Greenland would “shatter the trust of allies” and that disastrous foreign policy decisions would tarnish Trump’s legacy.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers see a clear path to bolstering U.S. interests in Greenland while keeping ties with NATO-ally Denmark intact.

In a meeting with lawmakers Thursday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeld discussed how the countries can work together to develop the vital mineral industry and military cooperation, Coons said. Diplomats also told senators there was no evidence of Chinese or Russian activity in Greenland.

Trump has argued that the US should take Greenland before China or Russia, raising concerns across Europe. Several nations have sent troops to Greenland in support of Denmark.

“Our NATO allies are being forced to divert attention and resources to Greenland, a dynamic that plays directly into Putin’s hands and threatens the stability of the strongest democratic alliance the world has ever seen,” Murkowski said on social media.

What can Congress do?

Lawmakers are looking at several options to take a military invasion of Greenland off the table. Still, the Trump administration has shown little, if any, willingness to seek congressional approval before taking military action.

Lawmakers, including Republicans like Murkowski, are pushing legislation that would prohibit the Department of Defense from using funds to attack or occupy territory held by other NATO members without their consent.

The Alaska senator also suggested Congress could act to repeal Trump’s tariffs. Murkowski and several other Republicans have helped pass resolutions to undo tariffs around the world in the past year, but those pieces of legislation have not gained traction in the House. They would also need Trump’s signature or the support of two-thirds of both chambers to override his veto.

Democrats have also found some traction with war power proposals meant to force the president to seek congressional approval before engaging in war. Republicans narrowly defeated a resolution last week that would have barred Trump from re-invading Venezuela, and Democrats believe there are likely more Republicans to support the application in Greenland.

“What I’ve noticed is that these are war power proposals, they put some pressure on the Republicans,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who has been forced to vote on several similar proposals. He said the strategy also forced the Trump administration to provide briefings and commitments to get congressional approval before deploying troops.

Still, while rejecting the Venezuela war powers resolution on Wednesday, Republican leaders argued that the legislation should be repealed out of order because the Trump administration said there are currently no US troops in Venezuela.

That argument could set a precedent for future war power resolutions, giving Republicans a way to avoid voting against Trump’s wishes.

“If you don’t have boots on the ground, it’s a moot point,” Sen. Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, said of war power resolutions in general. He also argued that the possibility of taking Greenland over Denmark’s objection was “nothing more than a fantasy”.

Other Republicans have expressed support for Trump’s insistence that the US owns Greenland, although they reject the idea of ​​the US taking it by force.

That has left strong objections on the Republican side of the aisle coming from a handful of lawmakers who are leaving Congress next year.

Nebraska Republican Republican Rep. Don Bacon told the Omaha World Herald that an attack on Greenland would impeach Trump — whom he “pretends” to support.

Tillis, another retired Republican, has directed his criticism at Trump advisers such as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

“The fact that a small handful of ‘advisors’ are actively pushing for coercive action to seize an ally’s territory is beyond absurd,” he said.