Murkowski Slams Trump's Acquisition Bid: Greenland Is an Ally, Not an Asset

On Friday, a "bipartisan" delegation from the United States Congress flew to Copenhagen to affirm their support for Denmark and Greenland, and for Greenland remaining a Danish possession. Now, members of Congress do this kind of thing all the time, especially when they are opposed to the president on a specific issue - like this one.

So, speaking as an Alaskan, I wasn't surprised to see Princess (Senator) Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) among the visitors.

A bipartisan U.S. Congress delegation visited Copenhagen on Friday to voice support for Denmark and Greenland, insisting that President Donald Trump's designs on the Arctic island did not have the backing of the American people.
The two-day visit comes alongside a European show of support in the form of a military reconnaissance mission to Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory.

Not all aspects of foreign policy require the "backing of the American people," if we can presume the implication here is that a sitting president should consult national polling before acting in the United States' best interest. President Trump certainly doesn't - I mean, it's not like he's Bill Clinton, for which we should all be grateful.

Here's the onion:

The 11 visiting U.S. lawmakers held talks with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen, as well as Denmark's foreign and defence ministers, members of parliament and business leaders.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said there was "good dialogue" in the meetings, and stressed it was important to "nurture" ties between the United States, Denmark and Greenland.
"When you ask the American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, the vast majority -- some 75 percent -- will say, 'We do not think that that is a good idea'," Murkowski told reporters.
"Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset," she said.

The two, we might note, are not mutually exclusive. Greenland is an asset as long as there is a U.S. military presence there, although on Thursday we did note that the nations of Europe have combined to send a vast armada of 34 troops to defend Greenland.

Europe Now Sending Overwhelming Force of 34 to Defend Greenland

Now, Princess Lisa is correct in form, if not in intent. It is in the interests of both Denmark and Greenland to be on good terms with the United States, and vice versa. We are, after all, NATO allies, and the U.S. military presence on Greenland goes back at least to World War 2. And, we might note, the United States has been making offers on and off for Greenland since 1867, when Secretary of State William Seward was looking for Arctic territories for the post-war United States to expand into - and a good thing, too, or else I'd be sitting in Russian America right now, not the United States, and I'd probably be much less comfortable.

Another proposal was made in 1910, and others in 1946, and again in 1955.

Here, by the way, are the members of this bipartisan group:

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE)
Senator Dick Durban (D-IL)
Senator Peter Welch (D-NV)
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC)
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Representative Steny Hoyer (MD-05)
Representative Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Representative Madeleine Dean (PA-04)
Representative Sara Jacobs (CA-51)
Representative Sarah McBride (DE-AL)

Now, that's technically a bipartisan group, since it includes two Republicans. But you can see which party was in the majority in this assemblage - while noting that, thankfully, they aren't in the majority in Congress.

This trip was, of course, mostly symbolic. Matters of foreign policy are in the purview of the executive, not the legislative branch. But never underestimate the talent many politicians have for sniffing out some publicity, or for the chance to go on a junket at the taxpayers' expense.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

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