Jake Tapper Grills Stephen Miller After His Wife’s Social Media Post Causes a Diplomatic Incident

CNN host Jake Tapper grilled White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller after one of his wife’s social media posts caused a diplomatic incident with Denmark on Monday.

Katie Miller, a former Trump administration official and Stephen Miller’s wife, caused a diplomatic incident after she posted a map of Greenland covered in the U.S. flag, along with the caption, “SOON,” mere hours after U.S. forces invaded Venezuela on Saturday.

Miller’s post prompted Denmark’s ambassador to the United States and other Danish officials to issue statements demanding “full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.”

During an interview with Stephen Miller on CNN’s The Lead, Tapper grilled the White House deputy chief of staff about his wife’s post and whether the Trump administration could rule out a military invasion of Greenland.

“The premier of Greenland and the premier of Denmark and other Danish officials are responding to a Twitter post from your wife, Katie Miller, herself a former Trump White House official, showing Greenland covered with an American flag, saying, ‘SOON.’ After that was posted, President Trump repeated the claim that the U.S. needs Greenland for national security reasons,” said Tapper on Monday. “Can you rule out that the U.S. is ever going to try to take Greenland by force?”

Miller responded, “Well, let me go back a step. The president has been clear for months now – so I know you’re treating this as breaking news – the president has been clear for months now that the United States should be the nation that has Greenland as part of our overall security apparatus.”

Tapper shot back, “Right, but your wife posted that like hours after the Venezuela operation. That’s why it’s newly relevant.”

“I just wanted to reset Jake by making clear that’s been the formal position of the U.S. government since the beginning of this administration, frankly going back to the previous Trump administration, that Greenland should be part of the United States,” replied Miller. “The president has been very clear about that. That is the formal position of the U.S. government.”

After Tapper asked Miller whether “military action against Greenland is off the table,” Miller dodged the questioned, arguing, “Greenland has a population of 30,000 people [sic, 56,000], Jake. The real question is about what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony in Denmark? The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States.”

“So you can’t take it off the table that the U.S. would use military force to seize Greenland? You can’t take it off the table?” pushed Tapper.

“Jake, I understand you’re trying very hard – which, again, is your job, I respect it, it’s great – to get exactly the headline, that catchy headline that says, ‘Miller refuses to rule out’– The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States,” Miller concluded. “There’s no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you’re asking of a military operation. Nobody’s gonna fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.”

Miller’s remarks on CNN received criticism from Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who reacted, “This is really dumb. Greenland and Denmark are our allies. There is no up side to demeaning our friends. But, it is causing wounds that will take time to heal.”

Watch above via CNN.