Washington — Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia on Sunday criticized President Trump’s approach to Greenland as part of what he called a “crazy foreign policy.”
Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, rebuked the idea on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the U.S. would “threaten a military invasion” against a population that doesn’t want to become part of America, while going against Denmark, a NATO ally.
“This whole approach that Trump has of treating our allies — when we turn Canada into an enemy — our allies as not allies, and suddenly wanting to buddy up with Putin in Russia or with Xi in China,” Warner said, while citing the U.S.’ stance on recent U.N. resolutions concerning the war in Ukraine. “This is a crazy foreign policy, and America is stronger when we have allies.”
The president has repeatedly vowed to secure U.S. control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, despite opposition from residents and leaders. And he told NBC News in an interview on Saturday that “we’ll get Greenland,” saying there’s a “good possibility that we could do it without military force,” while adding that “I don’t take anything off the table.”
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance visited a U.S. base in Greenland last week, where he criticized Denmark’s leadership of the island, prompting criticism from the Danish foreign minister.
The developments came after the intelligence community last week released its annual threat assessment, as the administration’s intelligence chiefs testified before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. The report alleged that China is going after Greenland’s natural resources and aiming to use it as a strategic foothold for advancing China’s interests in the Arctic.
While Warner criticized the administration’s approach to Greenland, he acknowledged that Greenland has “enormous value,” with a lot of rare earth minerals, saying when asked about the strategic interest there’s “legitimate interests in stronger ties with Greenland, absolutely.”
Last week’s intelligence hearings, though they were intended to center on the security situation, were defined by a Signal chat leak, after Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, revealed he had been added to a group of top Trump officials who were discussing sensitive plans to strike targets in Yemen.
Warner on Sunday lambasted the administration for the lapse, saying there’s a “pattern of sloppiness” that does little to dispel concerns that the mistake would be repeated, while urging that officials must be “held accountable.”
“I believe Secretary Hegseth should resign or be fired, I think Mike Waltz should resign or be fired,” Warner said. “If no action is taken, what message does that send to the workforce?”
