US Congress unlikely to back a Greenland invasion, top Democrat says

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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -The United States Congress is unlikely to support any invasion of Denmark’s semi-autonomous territory of Greenland, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives said while on a visit to Copenhagen on Friday.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, has said he wants the United States to take over Greenland and has not ruled out the use of force to do so.

“I don’t believe that there is real bipartisan support in the Congress to aggressively move on Greenland,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, told reporters in Copenhagen during a visit by a group of Congress members.

“You’ll have to ask our Republican colleagues, but I haven’t seen serious Republican members of Congress weigh in support of the notion that we should somehow invade Greenland,” he added.

The U.S. Congressional delegation included members of both parties although no Republicans spoke at a press event held after they met Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

Jeffries said Denmark was a tremendous ally of the United States in building a rules-based society around the world, in contrast to remarks by Vice President JD Vance who on a trip to Greenland in late March said Denmark had not been a good ally.

A 1951 agreement between the United States and Denmark gives the U.S. the right to move around freely and construct military bases in Greenland as long as Denmark and Greenland are notified.

“That agreement is still valid, it’s alive, and the leaders here in Denmark have made clear that it remains available to be utilized,” Jeffries said.

He added that the delegation did not discuss with Danish officials increasing the U.S. military presence or activity in Greenland.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-PedersenWriting by Terje SolsvikEditing by Louise Rasmussen and Peter Graff)