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‘A lot of anxiety’: Top senators fear Trump is serious about grabbing Greenland
WASHINGTON — Greenland’s the talk of the town, which even has many Republicans nervous.
“The rhetoric going on now is irresponsible,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Raw Story.
The rhetoric — including the White House declaring “all options” are on the table when it comes to obtaining the Danish-governed territory — has only been ratcheting up since last weekend, when President Donald Trump deployed the U.S. military to invade Venezuela and capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
“You have to take it more seriously than we did six months ago,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told Raw Story.
“Did you see this coming with Maduro?” Raw Story pressed.
“I'm still so naive that I took them at their word during their classified briefing in December when they told us they weren't interested in regime change,” Murphy said. “Yeah, it's hard to take any of this seriously, given that they have had very little compunction misleading us in the past.”
Murphy was speaking as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth went to Capitol Hill to give confidential briefings about the Venezuela operation.
With Rubio now slated to meet with Danish officials to discuss Greenland, an autonomous territory of the European nation, many on Capitol Hill are reassessing previous political complacency.
“I said all last year, ‘Ah, you know, nothing will come of it,’” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told Raw Story. “Obviously, it's at the head of my priority list now.”
Even many of President Trump’s GOP allies fear Congress will once again be left in the dark.
“It's hard to say what he's inching towards,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) told Raw Story. “They've kind of been a little bit all over the board.”
‘Wouldn't want to do it by force’
“In the New Year, where’s Greenland on your priority list?” Raw Story asked Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).
“Greenland was not on my bingo card two years ago,” Lankford said. “I don't even know how to answer that question.”
“Are you worried that this could be a distraction?” Raw Story pressed. “Or do you think it is key strategically?”
“No. There's some key strategic aspects there dealing with their own coast and dealing with the Arctic, there's no question about that, so that's a key relationship,” Lankford said. “It’s why we have a base there and have had a base there for years.”
To many Republicans, that relationship’s worked — so they don’t see any need to alter it.
“I wouldn't say it's a top priority for me, no,” Sen. Capito said.
While most Republicans on Capitol Hill don’t want to even entertain the thought of using the U.S. military to capture Greenland, they’re open to reassessing the relationship.
“It’s in our strategic interest to enhance our presence there,” Capito said. “I don't think that it's something that is a top priority for us, and I don't think it's something that needs to be grasped.
“Some kind of mutually agreed enhancement of our presence there would probably be a good start.”
Even so-called foreign policy doves — or isolationists — in the GOP are now openly courting the island country.
“It’d be nice if Greenland would decide they'd like to join the U.S.,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Raw Story.
“But I wouldn't want to do it by force. The only way that you'd convince Greenland to be part of the United States is by offering them things that would be to their benefit, not telling them we're going to invade them.”
‘Talk to the President’
With Russia’s war against Ukraine already straining NATO, bellicose chatter from the White House has U.S. allies nervous.
“Any type of move on Greenland, it'll threaten the existence of NATO, which will be inviting the end of the post-World War II international system,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) — the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee — told Raw Story.
“They'll be conceding, I think, to the Russians influence in Europe that they don't have now — and China.”
But few doubt that President Trump seriously wants the U.S. to take over Greenland — a reality which means many lawmakers are now fielding calls from their NATO counterparts.
“I'm worried that even these threats, even this rhetoric has stirred our NATO allies up so much,” Murkowski said.
“I've talked to the Danish ambassador, talking to my friends, the parliamentarians in other Arctic countries — the Nordic countries — and, yeah, there's a lot of anxiety.”
Still, even with Greenland the talk of this town, many Republicans still just shrug when talk turns that way.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) is chair of the nominally powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee but when Raw Story asked him about Greenland, he simply responded: “I don’t know.”
“Talk to the President,” Risch said.
Trump stumbles over his words when cornered by reporters on false ICE shooting claims
An evasive Trump told reporters on Thursday that the American citizen shot and killed by ICE "behaved horribly," but stumbled when reporters pressed him harder.
As news of the fatal shooting of an observer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis began to spark outrage and protests, President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to defend the officers' actions and falsely claim that the victim, Renee Nicole Good, was driving toward officers or even that an officer was hospitalized, none of which appears to be true from reporting or video footage.
New York Times reporters went on to confront Trump about these discrepancies on Thursday morning, and when put on the spot, he became evasive.
“She behaved horribly,” said Trump. “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over. I’ll play the tape for you right now.” Trump then had his assistant Natalie Harp bring over a laptop that played a slow-motion video of the shooting.
“With all of it being said, no, I don’t like that happening,” Trump added before the video played.
After Times reporters noted that the video didn't show any ICE officer being run over, Trump stumbled over his words, saying, “Well, I — the way I look at it — It’s a terrible scene. I think it’s horrible to watch. No, I hate to see it.”
Trump's claims that the shooting was justified have been echoed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said the officer “used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues” from a woman who was "stalking" them.
The exact nature of what caused the officer to fire his weapon is not the only criticism ICE is facing; other reports have indicated the officers blocked a doctor who was on scene from rendering medical assistance after the shooting.
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‘A lot of anxiety’: Top senators fear Trump is serious about grabbing Greenland
WASHINGTON — Greenland’s the talk of the town, which even has many Republicans nervous.
“The rhetoric going on now is irresponsible,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Raw Story.
The rhetoric — including the White House declaring “all options” are on the table when it comes to obtaining the Danish-governed territory — has only been ratcheting up since last weekend, when President Donald Trump deployed the U.S. military to invade Venezuela and capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
“You have to take it more seriously than we did six months ago,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told Raw Story.
“Did you see this coming with Maduro?” Raw Story pressed.
“I'm still so naive that I took them at their word during their classified briefing in December when they told us they weren't interested in regime change,” Murphy said. “Yeah, it's hard to take any of this seriously, given that they have had very little compunction misleading us in the past.”
Murphy was speaking as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth went to Capitol Hill to give confidential briefings about the Venezuela operation.
With Rubio now slated to meet with Danish officials to discuss Greenland, an autonomous territory of the European nation, many on Capitol Hill are reassessing previous political complacency.
“I said all last year, ‘Ah, you know, nothing will come of it,’” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told Raw Story. “Obviously, it's at the head of my priority list now.”
Even many of President Trump’s GOP allies fear Congress will once again be left in the dark.
“It's hard to say what he's inching towards,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) told Raw Story. “They've kind of been a little bit all over the board.”
‘Wouldn't want to do it by force’
“In the New Year, where’s Greenland on your priority list?” Raw Story asked Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).
“Greenland was not on my bingo card two years ago,” Lankford said. “I don't even know how to answer that question.”
“Are you worried that this could be a distraction?” Raw Story pressed. “Or do you think it is key strategically?”
“No. There's some key strategic aspects there dealing with their own coast and dealing with the Arctic, there's no question about that, so that's a key relationship,” Lankford said. “It’s why we have a base there and have had a base there for years.”
To many Republicans, that relationship’s worked — so they don’t see any need to alter it.
“I wouldn't say it's a top priority for me, no,” Sen. Capito said.
While most Republicans on Capitol Hill don’t want to even entertain the thought of using the U.S. military to capture Greenland, they’re open to reassessing the relationship.
“It’s in our strategic interest to enhance our presence there,” Capito said. “I don't think that it's something that is a top priority for us, and I don't think it's something that needs to be grasped.
“Some kind of mutually agreed enhancement of our presence there would probably be a good start.”
Even so-called foreign policy doves — or isolationists — in the GOP are now openly courting the island country.
“It’d be nice if Greenland would decide they'd like to join the U.S.,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Raw Story.
“But I wouldn't want to do it by force. The only way that you'd convince Greenland to be part of the United States is by offering them things that would be to their benefit, not telling them we're going to invade them.”
‘Talk to the President’
With Russia’s war against Ukraine already straining NATO, bellicose chatter from the White House has U.S. allies nervous.
“Any type of move on Greenland, it'll threaten the existence of NATO, which will be inviting the end of the post-World War II international system,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) — the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee — told Raw Story.
“They'll be conceding, I think, to the Russians influence in Europe that they don't have now — and China.”
But few doubt that President Trump seriously wants the U.S. to take over Greenland — a reality which means many lawmakers are now fielding calls from their NATO counterparts.
“I'm worried that even these threats, even this rhetoric has stirred our NATO allies up so much,” Murkowski said.
“I've talked to the Danish ambassador, talking to my friends, the parliamentarians in other Arctic countries — the Nordic countries — and, yeah, there's a lot of anxiety.”
Still, even with Greenland the talk of this town, many Republicans still just shrug when talk turns that way.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) is chair of the nominally powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee but when Raw Story asked him about Greenland, he simply responded: “I don’t know.”
“Talk to the President,” Risch said.
Trump stumbles over his words when cornered by reporters on false ICE shooting claims
An evasive Trump told reporters on Thursday that the American citizen shot and killed by ICE "behaved horribly," but stumbled when reporters pressed him harder.
As news of the fatal shooting of an observer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis began to spark outrage and protests, President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to defend the officers' actions and falsely claim that the victim, Renee Nicole Good, was driving toward officers or even that an officer was hospitalized, none of which appears to be true from reporting or video footage.
New York Times reporters went on to confront Trump about these discrepancies on Thursday morning, and when put on the spot, he became evasive.
“She behaved horribly,” said Trump. “And then she ran him over. She didn’t try to run him over. She ran him over. I’ll play the tape for you right now.” Trump then had his assistant Natalie Harp bring over a laptop that played a slow-motion video of the shooting.
“With all of it being said, no, I don’t like that happening,” Trump added before the video played.
After Times reporters noted that the video didn't show any ICE officer being run over, Trump stumbled over his words, saying, “Well, I — the way I look at it — It’s a terrible scene. I think it’s horrible to watch. No, I hate to see it.”
Trump's claims that the shooting was justified have been echoed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said the officer “used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues” from a woman who was "stalking" them.
The exact nature of what caused the officer to fire his weapon is not the only criticism ICE is facing; other reports have indicated the officers blocked a doctor who was on scene from rendering medical assistance after the shooting.
