Congresswoman McCollum Statement in Defense of Greenland's Sovereignty

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D, MN-04) issued the following statement after the conclusion of the White House meeting between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the Trump administration:

"The decision on the future of Greenland is up to the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland's future is in the hands of its people, not the United States of America, and not President Trump. President Trump's continued military threats against our allies are shocking and unbecoming of his office. If the President is truly concerned about America's national security in the Arctic, then the best thing he could do would be to work to strengthen the NATO Alliance. Every single Arctic nation in the world, except for Russia, is a member of NATO and it is our shared defensive posture that secures the Arctic from Russian and Chinese aggression. If the President believes that America's security in the Arctic is confined to Greenland, then he has a highly misinformed view of the high north's security situation. Make no mistake, if President Trump were to order U.S. military action to seize Greenland, it would be the gravest military error committed by a President in American history. The end of the NATO Alliance would be a gift to Putin that even the leaders of the Soviet Union could never have dreamed of. It must never be allowed to occur."