Greenland conquest ‘would be disastrous,’ Sen. Tim Kaine says

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Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday that he believes there would be bipartisan opposition to the use of American forces as part of an effort to take Greenland.

“I think Congress will stop him, both Democrats and Republicans,” the Virginia senator said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

President Trump has long signaled he wants an American takeover of the world’s largest island, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark. He doubled down on Jan. 9, saying “I would like to make a deal the easy way, but if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.”

Kaine said neither option would be acceptable. He cited Denmark’s long history as a NATO ally.

“We’re not going to do it the hard way, and we’re not gonna do it the easy way either. We’re going to continue to work with Denmark as a sovereign nation that we’re allied with, and we’re not going to treat them as an adversary or as an enemy,” Kaine said.

Leaders in both Denmark and Greenland have decried Mr. Trump’s plan. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders 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.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of the 76-year-old NATO alliance. Kaine echoed those comments Sunday on “Face the Nation.”

“This would be disastrous. It wouldn’t just be America 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,” Kaine said, predicting the U.S. would be “isolated as a pariah.”

Kaine said he has talked to Republican colleagues who are in agreement that the threat of U.S. military action in Greenland should be off the table.

“I can tell you this, we will force a vote in the Senate about no U.S. military action in Greenland or Denmark,” Kaine said. “If we need to, we will get overwhelming bipartisan support that this president is foolish to even suggest this.”