The Fulcrum introduces Congress Bill Spotlight, a weekly report by Jesse Rifkin, focusing on the noteworthy legislation of the thousands introduced in Congress. Rifkin has written about Congress for years, and now he's dissecting the most interesting bills you need to know about, but that often don't get the right news coverage.
President Donald Trump wants the U.S. to control Greenland. A bill in Congress could help.
The bill
Playing off Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America great again,” the Make Greenland Great Again Act would give the president congressional authorization to enter into negotiations with Denmark about acquiring their territory. The bill would technically apply to any president, not just to Trump.
It would also specify that any such potential Greenland acquisition deal becomes official unless Congress disapproves it within 60 days. That’s essentially the exact opposite of the way international deals like treaties are supposed to work: namely, that even if the president signs a treaty, the U.S. only becomes a party once Congress affirmatively approves it.
The House bill was introduced on January 13 by Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN5). No Senate companion version appears to have been introduced yet.
Context: Trump
In his first term, Trump expressed interest in U.S. ownership of Greenland, whether through a financial purchase or a potential land trade – with one trade reportedly involving the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The whole Greenland idea, originally pitched to Trump by fellow billionaire Ronald Lauder of the Estée Lauder cosmetics company, ultimately went nowhere.
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The U.S. previously attempted to purchase Greenland in 1868 for $5.5 million, then again in 1946 for $100 million. But certain aspects make the current idea different.
- Timing: The U.S. hasn’t added new territory since 1947. So while adding Greenland very much fit the trend of national expansion circa 1868 or 1946, it’s literally unprecedented within the lifetimes of most Americans alive today.
- Military possibility: In a press conference two weeks before his second inauguration, Trump refused to rule out military force to obtain Greenland.
Context: Greenland itself
Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, home to only 56,000 people. For comparison, five random U.S. small cities or towns with populations around that size are Harrisonburg, Virginia; Parker, Colorado; Euless, Texas; Sammamish, Washington; and Manhattan, Kansas.
But what Greenland lacks in people it makes up in size, natural resources, and geographical importance.
- Size: it’s the largest island in the world, with more square miles than Mexico.
- Natural resources: the land is plentiful with elements used in technologies like electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, plus oil reserves representing potentially more than four years’ worth of U.S. usage.
- Geographical importance: Greenland is near geopolitical rivals China and Russia, which is why the U.S. has maintained a military base there since 1951.
What supporters say
Supporters argue that the U.S. needs Greenland to better defend against its geopolitical rivals.
“The acquisition of Greenland by the United States is essential to our national security,” Rep. Ogles said in a press release days before Trump was inaugurated. “Joe Biden took a blowtorch to our reputation these past four years, [but] before even taking office, President Trump is telling the world that America First is back. American economic and security interests will no longer take a backseat.”
Trump’s top foreign policy official also defended the idea.
Greenland “long has been a curiosity or something people have not talked about, but I think now we have the opportunity to see it for what it is,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in his Senate confirmation hearing. “And that is, if not the most important, one of the most critical parts of the world over the next 100 years will be whether there's going to be freedom of navigation in the Arctic, and what that will mean for global trade and commerce.”
What opponents say
Greenland and Denmark's political leaders have expressed hesitancy.
“We don’t want to be Americans,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede said in a Fox News interview with Bret Baier. “We don’t want to be a part of the U.S., but we want a strong cooperation together with the U.S.”
“Greenland is not for sale,” Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen echoed, in her office’s summary of points she made to Trump on a phone call. “It is up to Greenland itself to make a decision on independence.”
Former President Joe Biden’s top foreign policy official also opposes the proposal.
“The idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one,” Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference. “But maybe more important, it’s obviously one that’s not going to happen.”
Odds of passage
The bill has attracted 16 cosponsors, all Republicans. Curiously, one of the original cosponsors – Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL2) – withdrew only two days after signing on, but didn’t provide a public reason why.
It now awaits a potential vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, controlled by Republicans.
A similar bill
On February 10, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA1) introduced a similar bill, with a noteworthy addition: it would rename Greenland as Red, White, and Blueland.
“America is back and will soon be bigger than ever,” Rep. Carter said in a press release. “President Trump has correctly identified the purchase of what is now Greenland as a national security priority, and we will proudly welcome its people to join the freest nation to ever exist when our Negotiator-in-Chief inks this monumental deal.”
The Red, White, and Blueland Act awaits a potential vote in either the House Foreign Affairs or Natural Resources Committee, controlled by Republicans. It has not yet attracted any cosponsors.
Jesse Rifkin is a freelance journalist with the Fulcrum. Don’t miss his weekly report, Congress Bill Spotlight, every Friday on the Fulcrum. Rifkin’s writings about politics and Congress have been published in the Washington Post, Politico, Roll Call, Los Angeles Times, CNN Opinion, GovTrack, and USA Today.
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