There's been a lot of talk, since President Trump resumed office, about adding various places as new states to these United States. It's not likely to happen, of course, but that doesn't stop the chatter. One of those places is Greenland, which occupies a vital strategic location. If Alaska is, as I'm often pointing out, the Crown of the Pacific, then Greenland occupies a very similar position as the Crown of the Atlantic; it is in a position to influence any traffic from the Atlantic into the Arctic.
But statehood for Greenland is unlikely in the extreme.
This brings us to Republican Representative Randy Fine (FL-06), who has introduced a bill that has as its primary goal statehood for Greenland.
A House Republican is pushing for Greenland to become the country's 51st state as President Donald Trump publicly pushes for the Danish territory to come under U.S. rule.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., is introducing a bill on Monday aimed at authorizing Trump "to take such steps as may be necessary" to acquire Greenland and set it on the pathway of becoming part of the United States.
"I think it is in the world's interest for the United States to exert sovereignty over Greenland," Fine told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"Congress would still have to choose to make it a state, but this would simply authorize the president to do what he's doing and say the Congress stands behind him. And then it would expedite it into becoming a state, but it would still be up to Congress about whether to do that."
It's unlikely that this bill will pass, especially given the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. Also unlikely, for the same reasons, is another bill, H.R. 361, the "Make Greenland Great Again" bill, introduced by GOP Representative Andrew Ogles (TN-05).
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But Greenland remains a strategic location, and one with energy and mineral resources as well. It's also a location that's seeing a lot of nearby traffic from Russian ships, which isn't terribly surprising given Russia's huge Arctic presence. But Chinese ships have also been seen in the area recently, and that's a rather greater concern. Denmark, of course, would have a huge logistical headache trying to defend Greenland, and Greenland has no forces of its own.
The Constitution lays out, very plainly, the process for admitting a new state. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, gives Congress the power to admit new states. But that section states:
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
"Admitted by Congress" has traditionally involved, as has been here introduced, a bill for Congress to approve statehood. Any proposed state must draft and approve a state constitution, and Congress then has to approve the addition of the new state. The last time this was done was when Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state, in 1959. The makeup of Congress now would seem to preclude any vote to make Greenland a state. After the midterms? Who knows? And, like any bill, a bill to add a new state has to be approved by the president. It's a near-certainty that President Trump would approve any such bill should it land on his desk, but that's the longest of long shots.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, remember, is meeting with Danish officials this week to discuss Greenland, and America's interest therein. A deal involving mineral and energy extraction rights and increased American defense in Greenland isn't unlikely. Statehood? Probably not on the agenda.
You can view Representative Fine's press release about this proposed bill here.
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