Trump’s Greenland military threat downplayed on the Hill

President Donald Trump‘s allies on Capitol Hill are downplaying his threats to take over Greenland by force. To them it’s just the art of the deal — hinting back to his popular 1987 book.

Republicans largely fell in line after Trump over the weekend ordered a strike that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro without congressional approval. Now, as Trump refuses to rule out military action to annex Greenland, some members of the GOP say his aggressive posturing is a bluff to secure a deal that gives the U.S. more influence over the Arctic island.

“He’s from New York, he’s one of the best negotiators and how he negotiates sometimes is everything is on the table,” Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., who was Trump’s Secretary of the Interior in his first term, said in an interview with CNBC. 

“I think [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio is correct in that he’s downplaying that we’re gonna land the Marines on Greenland,” Zinke said. “I’d be supportive of negotiating a deal with Denmark to make sure that it stays influenced in the West.”

Trump has long coveted Greenland, a self-governing island territory of NATO ally Denmark. He has argued U.S. influence over the island is critical to national security for deterring Russian and Chinese aggression. The president has doubled down on his efforts to make the island part of the U.S. after the Venezuela raid that captured Maduro and hauled him to New York to face criminal drug charges. 

“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,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday of the Greenland plan. 

The effort has rattled European leaders and enraged Denmark, which, along with Greenland, has repeatedly denied Trump’s overtures. 

“Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland,” wrote Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as the leaders of Italy, Spain and Poland in a joint statement earlier this week.

Moderate Republicans have taken solace in the idea that Trump is only negotiating, as Zinke argued. Maintaining the NATO alliance remains paramount on Capitol Hill. 

“Obviously there is strategic national security importance to it with respect to the Arctic, with respect to NATO, with respect to combating Russia,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.

“If you can enter into negotiations with Denmark, with Greenland, great. The idea of taking it by force, no … there is strong bipartisan opposition to any use of force…