House Speaker Mike Johnson said the Trump administration is not seriously considering military action to acquire Greenland but is pursuing “diplomatic channels.”
The speaker fielded several questions about the U.S. plan for Greenland during his weekly press conference on Wednesday and tried to tamp down the speculation about aggressive action to acquire the massive territory situated between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
“We’re not at war with Greenland,” Mr. Johnson said. “We have no reason to be at war with Greenland. Everybody knows there’s a geopolitical and strategic importance of that landmass, and that’s what everyone is talking about.”
Greenland is self-governing, but owned and controlled by Denmark, a NATO ally.
Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned on Monday that any American attempt to take Greenland by force would result in the end of NATO.
But Mr. Johnson said that’s not the Trump administration’s goal.
“All this stuff about military action and all that, I don’t even think that’s a possibility,” he said. “I don’t think anybody’s seriously considering that, and in the Congress, we’re certainly not.”
However, the White House issued a statement Tuesday that left open the possibility.
It read: “The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.”
President Trump told reporters on Sunday that the U.S. is better equipped than Denmark to improve the security of Greenland, which he said is “covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”
“We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic,” he said, adding that it would benefit the European Union as well.
Mr. Johnson said the Trump administration is “talking about diplomatic channels” to achieve that goal. He said he’s confirmed those efforts in conversations with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who was appointed by the president to serve as the U.S. special envoy to Greenland.
The speaker was asked about reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a group of congressional party and intelligence leaders, known as the Gang of Eight, during a classified briefing on Monday, that the U.S. planned to purchase Greenland.
“Do we know whether there’s going to be some sort of financial arrangement in these negotiations? I mean, none of us know,” Mr. Johnson said. “But Marco did not go into the Gang of Eight to say we’re going to buy Greenland. That’s not what happened.”
He said Mr. Rubio did “say something like that,” but in a manner that he took as a joke.
“He was trying to be humorous about it,” Mr. Johnson said.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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