A bipartisan group of lawmakers is set to visit Denmark this week amid President Trump’s ongoing efforts to acquire Greenland.
The group, led by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), consists of Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Sara Jacobs (DA), and Sarah McBride (D-DE).
According to a statement from Coons’ office, the delegation’s visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, highlights the more than 200 years of friendship between the country and the United States, “including enduring national security ties and decades of economic cooperation.” Upon visiting Denmark on Friday, January 16 and Saturday, January 17, the lawmakers will meet with Danish and Greenlandic officials and leaders to “highlight bipartisan support for our allies in the Kingdom of Denmark and discuss how to deepen this partnership in line with our shared principles of sovereignty and self-determination, and in the face of growing challenges around the world, especially bolstering Arctic security and promoting stronger trade relations between the two countries.”
Coons said in a statement that he is “proud to lead this congressional delegation to Copenhagen to demonstrate strong bipartisan and bicameral support in Congress for our Danish NATO ally.” He explained that Denmark has “always been a strong diplomatic, economic, and security partner who sacrificed more lives than any other country relative to its population when the United States invoked Article 5 following the September 11 attacks. At a time of increasing international instability, we need to draw closer to our allies, not drive them away, and this delegation will send a clear message that Congress is committed to NATO and our network of alliances.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) introduced a bill this week in support of Trump’s goal to annex Greenland. The bill, called the Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act, states that the United States may seek to “enter into negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark, to annex or otherwise acquire Greenland as a territory of the United States.”
