US needs Greenland because of European 'weakness,' Bessent says

By Nicholas P. Brown

NEW YORK, Jan 18 (Reuters) - European "weakness" necessitates U.S. control of Greenland for global stability, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday even as some lawmakers sounded alarms about the Trump administration's effort to acquire the Arctic territory held by Denmark.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, Bessent said taking ownership of Greenland is crucial in a geopolitical chess match with Russia and China. He made the remarks a day after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to implement tariffs on European Union members opposed to a U.S. acquisition, including Denmark, which has long been one of Washington's staunchest allies

"We are the strongest country in the world," Bessent said. "Europeans project weakness. U.S. projects strength."

As tensions with the EU escalated on Sunday, Bessent said he believed European leaders would ultimately "come around" to the idea of U.S. control of Greenland. "I believe that the Europeans will understand that this is best for Greenland, best for Europe, and best for the United States," he said. 

The U.S. Treasury chief said he had not recently discussed with Trump whether he is still considering using emergency powers to justify using force to take Greenland. But doing so would be "ridiculous" because there is no emergency in Greenland, said Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee.

"The idea by the secretary that, oh, this is to prevent an emergency - now we're declaring emergencies to prevent emergencies?" Paul, who has long been a vocal opponent of aggressive U.S. efforts overseas, said on "Meet the Press." 

BIPARTISAN OPPOSITION TO TRUMP'S GREENLAND GAMBIT

The Senate Homeland Security Committee may push a war powers resolution limiting Trump's ability to use force, or a resolution challenging his use of tariffs, Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said in the same interview.

Paul was not the only Republican on Sunday to challenge his party's president. U.S. Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, said the tariff gambit could threaten relationships with NATO allies. 

"This is not 'The Art of the Deal,'" Turner said on CBS' "Face the Nation" program, referencing the title of Trump's 1987 book. "This is more like 'The Dating Game.' ... This certainly isn't the type of language someone should be using when asking someone to join you in a partnership."

But Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn characterized Trump's tariff threat as a negotiating tactic.

"Sometimes he believes in strategic ambiguity and talks in terms that get people's attention, but ultimately I think there's a deal to be made," Cornyn said on the "Fox News Sunday" program.

Other lawmakers, including Senators Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, and Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, pointed to Greenland's natural resources as potential motivation for acquiring it, although they diverged on whether Trump has made a credible argument for the U.S. to absorb the territory.

Cruz, speaking on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" program, cited Greenland's minerals as one of the "enormous economic benefits" of acquiring it, although he also pointed to the country's strategic location. "It is overwhelmingly in the U.S. interest to acquire Greenland," Cruz said.

Speaking on ABC News' "This Week" program, Van Hollen accused Trump of dishonesty about Greenland's national security value and said the president only cares about the territory's natural resources.

"The president is lying to the American people when he says this is about security," Van Hollen said.

(Reporting by Nicholas P. Brown, Heather Schlitz and Bo Erickson; Editing by Sergio Non and Paul Simao)