Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, has said Greenland is “behind” the United States and asked, “Who gives a s***” who owns the Danish territory amid President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire the mineral-rich Arctic island.
Trump’s aggressive push to gain control of Greenland has been met with intense backlash from Europe.
After threatening last month to impose a 10 percent tariff on several NATO allies, including Denmark, until a deal is reached for the “complete and total purchase of Greenland,” leaders from those European nations said they “stand in full solidarity” with Denmark.
They rebuked Trump’s tariff threats, saying such an ultimatum would “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
Trump later pulled back on his tariff threats after a “very productive meeting” with the head of NATO, Mark Rutte, where they “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland.”
When asked by Politico what he’d say to his “friends from Europe” who are “nervous” about the controversy over Greenland, Graham joked, “If you’re nervous, have a beer, go see a doctor.”
“Greenland is behind us, but the goal is to get outcomes. Who gives a s*** who owns Greenland? I don’t,” Graham said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.
“Greenland is gonna be more fortified because Donald Trump…is gonna go big,” Graham said, adding that Trump has “got skin in the game.”
Trump claims his push for Greenland is rooted in “national security” concerns, warning that the semi-autonomous territory is threatened by Russia and China.
The U.S. currently has one military base in Greenland. The Pituffik Space Base “supports Missile Warning, Missile Defense and Space Surveillance missions,” according to the U.S. Space Force.
Trump mentioned the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Europe over Greenland Friday.
“Greenland’s gonna want us, but we get along very well with Europe. We’ll see how it all works out. We’re negotiating right now for Greenland,” the president told reporters outside the White House.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York reassured Europe that the “vast majority of the American people do not want to see these relationships frayed.”
The Democrat said during a discussion at the Munich Security Conference Friday that her party is “shocked at the president's destruction of our relationship with our European allies. His threatening over Greenland is not a joke. It is not funny. It threatens the very trust that allows peace to persist.”
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