House Speaker Mike Johnson says he was in contact with President Donald Trump multiple times through the weekend, ahead of President Trump's appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week.
The president said in remarks Wednesday that he would not use force to take Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
"We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force," he said. "I won't do that, I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the U.S. is asking for is a place called Greenland."
Trump maintained that U.S. control of Greenland would benefit NATO nations and protect them from aggression from China and Russia.
“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it,” President Trump said.
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Johnson told reporters Wednesday that he still believes that the president will gain control of that territory — a goal that many Republicans on the Hill appear to support.
"The president and I talked multiple times over the weekend," Johnson said. "I know right where his head is on this I'm glad he's articulating that for all of our friends over there at Davos. It's clear he's focused on the strategic importance Greenland, and no one can dispute that. It's not as though he made this up. As we noted, presidents have been talking about this for more than 100 years. All of us, not just Americans, but all of our allies around the world."
"Our two countries, the UK and the U.S., are no stranger to disagreements. And that applies to all of our allies and NATO, which is an important organization. And I'm confident that we'll work together to reach a solution that benefits both Europe and the U.S.," he said.
But there are some Republicans who have serious concerns about the possibility of taking over or even purchasing the territory of Greenland. A number of them have predicted that they would certainly not be the votes in Congress to pursue that goal.
Democrats have also made clear that they do not support any such measure.
