Foreign relations leader seethes on Greenland annexation: ‘It would be the end of NATO’
A U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee member says NATO will fall apart if the United States annexes Greenland.
"It would be the end of NATO," U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on NBC's " Meet the Press " on Sunday.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the United States should acquire Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
The president has said U.S. ownership of the island is a matter of national security, telling reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that Russia or China would take the territory if the U.S. doesn't.
"But one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland," Trump told reporters.
Trump hasn't ruled out military action to take Greenland but said it would be "easier" to make a deal for the territory's acquisition.
Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that if the U.S. tried to take Greenland, members of NATO, such as Denmark, would have to defend it. Such a scenario would pit the U.S. against its allies in the international military alliance.
Officials in Greenland, Denmark and Europe have pushed back on Trump's musings, saying Greenland belongs to its people, according to The Hill .
Democratic and Republican politicians have also pushed back on Trump's desire to take Greenland.
"This is appalling. Greenland is a NATO ally. Denmark is one of our best friends… so the way we're treating them is really demeaning and it has no upside," U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said on CNN last Tuesday.
"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," said U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-VA on CBS's Face the Nation .
Nevertheless, Trump has continued to speak in favor of the acquisition of Greenland. Members of the Trump administration are set to meet with Danish officials about Greenland on Wednesday, according to CBS News .
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