Delaware senator to lead visit to Denmark as President Trump continues to push to acquire Greenland

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Delaware Sen. Chris Coons is leading a Congressional bipartisan delegation to Denmark later this week. Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride will join Coons alongside Democratic Reps. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, Gregory Meeks of New York and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis from North Carolina.

The visit comes as President Donald Trump has threatened the country’s capital Copenhagen over his desire to annex Greenland into the United States. In recent statements, Trump has not ruled out purchasing or using military action against Greenland, which is a self-governing territory of Denmark.

“I would like to make a deal the easy way, but if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way,” Trump said last week.

In a news release, Coons said the trip is meant to highlight more than 200 years of friendship between the two countries. The delegation will meet with Danish and Greenlandic government and business leaders to discuss issues including Arctic security and strengthening trade relations.

“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,” Coons said in a statement. “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.”

“Delaware understands that our security and prosperity depend on strong partnerships rooted in mutual respect, sovereignty, and self-determination,” McBride said in a statement. “At a time of growing global instability, this trip could not be more poignant.”

Trump has said the U.S. needs to acquire Greenland because of national security threats from Russia and China. Representatives of Denmark and Greenland have told the president that the territory was not for sale.

“If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Tuesday during a news conference. “We choose NATO, the Kingdom of Denmark and the European Union.”