Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., introduced legislation aimed at blocking President Donald Trump from invading Greenland on Tuesday.
Gallego announced the legislative push on X, saying Congress must stop Trump ‘before he invades another country on a whim.’ The bill is one of several Democrat-backed efforts seeking to stop Trump from taking military action against other countries following the capture of now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
‘Families are getting crushed by rising grocery and housing costs, inflation is up, and Trump’s name is all over the Epstein files. Instead of doing anything to fix those problems, Trump is trying to distract people by threatening to start wars and invade countries – first in Venezuela, and now against our NATO ally Denmark,’ Gallego said in a statement.
‘What’s happening in Venezuela shows us that we can’t just ignore Trump’s reckless threats. His dangerous behavior puts American lives and our global credibility at risk. I’m introducing this amendment to make it clear that Congress will not bankroll illegal, unnecessary military action, and to force Republicans to choose whether they’re going to finally stand up or keep enabling Trump’s chaos,’ he added.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One over the weekend that the U.S. needs Greenland, a Danish territory, for ‘national security.’
White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller doubled down on Trump’s remarks on Monday, telling CNN that Greenland ‘should be part of the United States.’
CNN anchor Jake Tapper pressed Miller about whether the Trump administration could rule out military action to take the Arctic island.
‘Greenland has a population of 30,000 people,’ Miller said. ‘The real question is by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland. What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?’
‘The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously Greenland should be part of the United States,’ he added.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Monday statement posted on Facebook that his country is ‘not an object of superpower rhetoric.’
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen argued that a U.S. takeover of Greenland would effectively destroy NATO.
‘But I also want to make it clear that if the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. Including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War,’ she said.
Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.