When Utah Republican Rep. Blake Moore was asked to be the Republican co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Denmark Caucus, he expected it to be a mellow role in which he could honor his family’s roots.
But now that the U.S.-Denmark relationship is under strain as President Donald Trump repeatedly expresses interest in acquiring Greenland, it has grown into a more significant role.
“I didn’t, you know, plan on it being such a Danish-heavy year,” Moore, also the vice chair of the House Republican Conference, told NOTUS.
He said that he and other Denmark-friendly Republicans in Congress have spent the week reassuring Danish officials that there won’t be a military operation in Greenland anytime soon, despite President Donald Trump’s threats to take the island by purchase or force.
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“There’s no reality, in my opinion, to any type of military action in Greenland,” Moore told NOTUS. “I see no benefit towards a potential [Compact of Free Association], or even I don’t see a pathway to a COFA deal, and I don’t see any benefit to buying Greenland.”
Jesper Møller Sørensen, Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S., and Jacob Isbosethsen, head of Greenland representation to the U.S., met with lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday, including Moore.
Moore told NOTUS after his meeting with the officials that he regularly communicates with Sørensen as part of his caucus leadership. He said the diplomats are particularly eager right now to emphasize how they help the U.S.
“They want to highlight thoughts about, ‘Hey, let’s just make sure we reiterate all the good that we’re doing,’ and how all of those positives far outweigh any of the rhetoric or the commentary that’s going on right now,” Moore said of the Danish and Greenlandic representatives.
Since his first term, Trump has expressed interest in buying or invading Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, for its defense capabilities and proximity to Russia and China. He and his allies have doubled down since the military operation in Venezuela to oust its president, Nicólas Maduro, last weekend.
“We need Greenland from a national security situation,” Trump told reporters after the raid. “It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you.”
“And the European Union needs us to have it, and they know that,” Trump added.
Those remarks kicked off a wave of Trump allies trumpeting American expansionism in Greenland, including Matthew Whitaker, ambassador to NATO, and top White House aide Stephen Miller.
In turn, the comments have inflamed relationships abroad. Several European leaders wrote an open letter on Tuesday in support of Greenland and Denmark’s sovereignty, saying Denmark and Greenland were NATO partners and had the sole right to determine their own future.
On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, Moore was one of several prominent Republicans clarifying that taking Greenland by force is not on the American agenda, despite what the president says. House Speaker Mike Johnson and multiple senators, including those who met with Sørensen, said this week they do not support military action in Greenland.
“We’re not at war with Greenland. We have no intention of being, we have no reason to be at war with Greenland,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “Everybody knows there’s geopolitical and strategic importance of that landmass, and that’s what everyone has talked about.”
Johnson said the heightened interest in Greenland had more to do with diplomatic relationships, mentioning his home state governor, Jeff Landry, whom Trump recently appointed as a special envoy to Greenland.
Moore told NOTUS that his Republican colleagues are “very in lockstep” with an allied relationship with Denmark and Greenland, as he is.
“The actions, the operation in Venezuela, there is no equivalency to anything related to Denmark and Greenland,” Moore said. “But the fact that they’re just getting discussed at the same time is making it more of interest. And you start talking about it, and you get administration officials just continuing down a certain thought path.”
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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The Salt Lake Tribune.
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