Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said Sunday he believed there would be bipartisan opposition to the effort to take over American forces. Greenland.
“I think Congress will stop it, Democrats and Republicans alike,” Virginia Sen said “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
President Trump has long stated he wants American ownership of the world’s largest island, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. He doubled down on January 9, saying, “I’d like to do a deal the easy way, but if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.”
Cain said that would not be an acceptable option. He mentioned Denmark’s long history as a NATO ally.
“We’re not going to do it the hard way, and we’re not going to do it the easy way either. We’re going to continue to work with Denmark as a sovereign nation that we’re allies with, and we’re not going to treat them as adversaries or enemies,” Cain said.
The leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have condemned Mr Trump’s plan. Jens-Frederik Nielsen Prime Minister of Greenland and four party leaders he said in a statement Friday night that, “We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders”.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American occupation of Greenland would spell the end of the 76-year-old NATO alliance. Cain echoed those comments on Sunday’s “Face the Nation.”
“This would be disastrous. It wouldn’t be America alone first, it wouldn’t just be the end of NATO, it would be America alone. If we take our best allies, and Denmark has been an ally for a very long time,” Kain said, predicting the US would be “isolated as a pariah.”
Kaine said he has spoken with Republican colleagues who agree that the threat of US military action in Greenland should be off the table.
“I can tell you this, we will force a vote in the Senate on the absence of US military action in Greenland or Denmark,” Kain said. “If we have to, we’re going to get tremendous bipartisan support, and this president is foolish to even suggest that.”