As last week got underway, Donald Trump’s imperialistic rhetoric about acquiring Greenland took a rather unsettling turn. Asked whether he was prepared to assure the public that he would not use military coercion against the island, the president-elect demurred — suggesting that as far as the Republican was concerned, a military threat against a NATO ally was on the table.
In case that weren’t quite enough, Trump added, in reference to Greenland’s status as a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark: “People really don’t even know that Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security.”
The posturing continues to have reverberations. Officials in Denmark, for example, have reportedly sent back-channel messages to the president-elect’s team, exploring the possibility of a new agreement. On the island, meanwhile, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has made it explicitly clear that the Greenlandic people “don’t want to be Americans,” even as Trump prepares to send Ken Howery, a venture capitalist and Elon Musk pal, to broker some kind of deal.
As for the reaction on Capitol Hill, a group of House Republicans introduced legislation this week to empower the incoming administration to move forward with plans to acquire Greenland, while most Democrats tend to see all of this as ridiculous.
There are apparently some exceptions, however. The Daily Beast noted:
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman said Wednesday he’s open to Donald Trump’s idea that the U.S. acquire Greenland, telling reporters that it’s “strategically a smart thing.” “I mean, it’s pretty reasonable, and I think it’s actually strategically a smart thing,” Fetterman said, according to NBC News. CNN’s Manu Raju added that Fetterman told the press that he would support the acquisition if Denmark did as well.
Those comments came on the heels of Fetterman appearing on Fox News last week and making a similar assessment. While the Pennsylvanian said he would “never support” taking Greenland by force, he went on to equate the possible territorial expansion with the Louisiana Purchase.








