GOP Rep Predicts Trump Invasion May ‘End’ Presidency
Republican representative Don Bacon says Trump’s Greenland invasion threats could put him at risk for impeachment.
A Republican lawmaker appears determined to spend the rest of his term in Congress sowing discord within his own party, publicly warning that President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland could lead to his impeachment.
Representative Don Bacon, 62, of Nebraska, told the Omaha World-Herald on Wednesday that House Republicans would be inclined to impeach Trump if he followed through on his threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, a long-standing U.S. ally.
“Frankly, a lot of Republicans are furious,” Bacon told the newspaper. He added that if Trump persisted with his annexation plan, “it would be the end of his presidency.”
Bacon called the idea of invading Greenland “pure madness.” He warned that the president’s threats could fracture Republican unity in the House and prompt lawmakers to take action against a commander-in-chief who threatens to use military force against an ally.
And Bacon isn’t the only one worried. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, 83, addressed the Senate on Wednesday, saying such a move would destroy Trump’s legacy. The Kentucky senator warned that the decision would be “more disastrous for the president’s legacy than the withdrawal from Afghanistan was for his predecessor,” referring to President Joe Biden.
Asked for comment, the White House reiterated Trump’s assertion that Greenland is important for national security.
Deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly told the Daily Beast that President Trump is “committed to achieving lasting peace” and considers Greenland a “strategically important” location vital to U.S. national security. Kelly added that Trump is convinced the people of Greenland “would be better off if the United States protected them from modern threats in the Arctic.”
Trump has not given up on the issue. In a message posted Wednesday morning on TruthSocial, the president called a potential invasion of Greenland a “vital” national security issue, accusing Russia and China of preparing a response in the region.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen rejected Trump’s analysis, telling reporters at the Danish embassy on Wednesday that intelligence services did not corroborate the president’s claims, and noting that China had not deployed warships in Greenlandic waters “for about ten years.”
This public stance by Bacon against Trump comes as the Republican representative from Nebraska approaches the end of his congressional career. He announced in June that he would retire from politics at the end of his term in 2027. Earlier this week, Bacon joined House Democrats in introducing a bill titled the “NATO Invasion Prohibition Act,” which would prevent Trump from using military force – or federal funds – to seize Greenland.
Trump remains vague about his intentions regarding Greenland. During a tense exchange in the Oval Office on Wednesday, a reporter pressed the president on whether his remarks implied he was prepared to invade Greenland by force. Trump dodged the question, saying, “Are you telling me that’s what I’m going to do? You don’t know anything about it.”
Polls indicate that Trump would not have significant popular support for any action against Greenland. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this week showed that only 4% of Americans support a military takeover of Greenland. Bacon, who had previously voted against Trump’s impeachment, called the idea of invading an allied country a “terrible mistake.”
