US lawmakers seek to reassure Copenhagen after Trump’s Greenland threats

US senator Chris Coons and the US delegation visit Industriens Hus in Copenhagen. (EPA Images pic)COPENHAGEN: A bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers met the leaders of Denmark and Greenland on Friday to reassure them of congressional support, despite President Donald Trump’s threats to seize the Arctic island.Trump has said Greenland is vital to US security because of its strategic location and large supply of minerals and has not ruled out the use of force to take it. European nations this week sent small numbers of military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.The 11-member US delegation, led by Democratic senator Chris Coons, was scheduled to meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, according to Frederiksen’s office.“At a time of increasing international instability, we need to draw closer to our allies, not drive them away,” Coons said in a press release earlier this week.Senator believes ‘saner heads will prevail’Trump’s special envoy to Greenland said he planned to visit the Danish territory in March and that he believed a deal could be done.“I do believe that there’s a deal that should and will be made once this plays out,” Jeff Landry told Fox News in an interview on Friday. “The president is serious. I think he’s laid the markers down. He’s told Denmark what he’s looking for.”New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said recent rhetoric about the US taking over Greenland undermined Nato and played into the hands of its main adversaries, Russia and China.“I know there are real, deep concerns here in Denmark and in Greenland. These concerns are understandable when trust is shaken. But I believe saner heads will prevail,” she said in remarks shared ahead of a speech in Copenhagen.“And I believe that because institutions are already acting. On both sides of the aisle in Congress, there is overwhelming support for Nato and for the US-Danish relationship,” said Shaheen, whose father was stationed in Greenland when serving in the military during World War Two.The delegation includes Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, while the rest are Democratic lawmakers.Marking the occasion, the Greenlandic flag was being flown at the main staircase of the Danish parliament building, Christiansborg, in central Copenhagen.Demonstrations were scheduled to take place in Danish cities and in the Greenlandic capital Nuuk on Saturday in support of Greenland.Copenhagen visit follows White House meetingThe congressional visit follows a high-stakes meeting at the White House on Wednesday, where Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenlandic foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt met secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice president JD Vance.Danish officials said after that meeting they had not managed to change the US administration’s position on acquiring Greenland.Rasmussen and Motzfeldt have also been meeting US lawmakers in Washington this week to rally congressional support, as Denmark and Greenland seek to resolve the unprecedented diplomatic crisis with a Nato ally.“(We are) ready for cooperation on security in the Arctic but it has to happen with respect for our territorial integrity, international law and the UN Charter,” Rasmussen said in a post on Instagram late on Thursday.Cabinet ministers from Denmark and Greenland met on Friday to discuss the island’s preparedness, they said in a joint statement.Trump first floated the idea of acquiring Greenland in 2019 during his first term but faced opposition in Washington, including from within his own party.Bipartisan opposition to Greenland seizureLawmakers from both Trump’s Republican party and opposition Democrats have said they would back legislation to rein in Trump’s ability to seize Greenland, amid an ongoing fight over war powers, which the Constitution grants to Congress.A House bill in support of annexing Greenland has also been introduced.Just 17% of Americans approve of President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and large majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex the island, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Trump has called the poll “fake”.

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US lawmakers seek to reassure Copenhagen after Trump’s Greenland threats

The US delegation led by senator Chris Coons was set to meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

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