WASHINGTON - Last night, U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) appeared on Fox News' Hannity to discuss Greenland's strategic importance to the United States and praise the Trump administration's efforts to acquire the Arctic island.

Watch the full interview HERE

Senator Schmitt on Greenland's Strategic Importance:

"Look, they've gone through the process of de-industrialization throughout Europe with this obsession with net zero and this climate agenda. You're right, mass migration has wreaked havoc on that continent and in Great Britain. And they're also censoring speech. They have civilizational crisis in Europe; the United States doesn't intend to follow them down that road. But you're right. You can't overstate the strategic importance for the United States of America and the NATO alliance, quite frankly, of the United States acquiring Greenland. Whether it's ballistic missile defense, whether it's what's happening in space, whether it's the Arctic sea lanes that might open up, there's a lot of reasons that the United States has a very important interest in making sure that Greenland is protected. Europe can't protect it. The Danes can't protect it. That's just an obvious fact at this point. It is in the strategic interest the United States America to pursue this. One other point here, Sean - the fact is, President Trump is acting in the interests of the American people. He doesn't care much about currying favor with the elites in Brussels. That's really what this is about. The Europeans are so used to everyone speaking to them a certain way. President Trump has a job to do, and that's protect the [American] homeland and the Western Hemisphere, which is our backyard. President Trump is pursuing this. He's right to do it, if you're being objective in any sense of the matter. You look at a globe from on top; you realize how important Greenland is and why it's so important to the United States."

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"I can tell you that - and I speak to the president all the time - this is very top of mind for him. This is something that he's very serious about, and I'm glad that he is. You think about the importance of the Panama Canal one-hundred years ago, right? You think about the importance of these Arctic sea lanes. You talk about us being too reliant on China for critical minerals and rare earths. We can do all that by solving this Greenland issue. So, [President Trump] is very serious about it. He's right to pursue it. And my hope is that we can - that Europe will pivot away from this pride that they're exhibiting right now and understand that the United States of America is the only country on the planet that can protect Greenland and the NATO alliance. One last point, Sean, no one ever really in a meaningful way understood [the pivot] after the Cold War ended. President Trump is taking on the disastrous trade policies. He's also challenging the foreign policy elites. Europe, in many ways, has been subsidized by the taxpayers of the United States for their social welfare programs for far too long. They need to step up in a much more meaningful way for their own defense and also move forward with the United States by allowing us to acquire Greenland."

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