Former Vice President Mike Pence, who was the second-in-command during Donald Trump’s first term, expressed his support for President Trump’s push to annex Greenland on the 18th, but expressed concern about the president’s threat to impose tariffs on some NATO allies.
In an interview with CNN that day, Pence said, “Right now, I think the issue isn’t ‘what’ the president is trying to accomplish, but ‘how’ he’s trying to accomplish it.” He said, “What he’s trying to accomplish here is completely in America’s interests,” adding, “The person who first proposed purchasing Greenland was former President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State, who negotiated the Alaska Purchase.”
Former Vice President Pence, however, stated, “I have concerns about the questionable use of constitutional authority to achieve this goal by imposing unilateral tariffs on NATO allies. I’m just as concerned about that as I was about the threat of military invasion (of Greenland), a threat that doesn’t seem to be on the table anymore.”
He also noted that Denmark sent troops to the United States on 9/11 and suffered the highest per capita loss of troops of any country, and emphasized, “While I hope the current situation (of the conflict between the United States and Europe) will change and deescalate, I think it threatens to rupture our strong relationship not only with Denmark but with all of our NATO allies.”
Pence continued, “The persistent threat of incursions by China and Russia into the Arctic is real, and one of the steps the administration can take is simply to deploy troops to the region. The president’s ‘Golden Dome’ is a wonderful and visionary idea, but to fully realize it, it will require more territory, including Greenland.”
He added, “So, we have a real stake, but I’d like to see us invest. That could lay the groundwork for the people of the region and ultimately for Denmark to divest from Greenland and find a path forward for the United States.”