Will Trump’s Greenland Folly Finally Bring the Zombie Congress Back to Life to Stop Him?

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Donald Trump’s time in politics has been marked by instance after instance of the pundit class writing his political obituary, from the Access Hollywood tape to two impeachments to the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Each time, however, Trump has managed to hold onto his base and defy the predictions of his demise. But with all that being said, Trump’s current Greenland folly may finally be the move that effectively makes him a lame duck – if Republicans in Congress can find even the smallest backbone.

The frenetic, power-grabbing energy of Trump’s second term has been equaled only by Congress’s near comatose willingness to cede legislative priorities and oversight to the White House. The unpopularity of Trump’s saber-rattling to take Greenland away from NATO ally Denmark may, however, finally revive congressional Republicans — and motivate them to put the brakes on him more broadly.

The issue is a rare one that angers both sides of the GOP: Trump’s non-interventionist MAGA base and the more hawkish traditional Republican establishment. Trump’s flip-flop on intervening in Iran to aid protesters — and farcical acceptance of the Ayatollah’s word that his regime had stopped murdering them — as well as his recent invitation to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to join his Gaza “Board of Peace” have also divided the GOP in recent days. But so far, nothing seems to be peeling off support quite like Trump threatening military action against Greenland, which a recent Reuters poll found only 4% of Americans support.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), a reliable Trump ally, told CNN last week that, “To invade Greenland and attack its sovereignty, a fellow NATO country, would be weapons-grade stupid. President Trump is not weapons-grade stupid.”

Kennedy’s comments were mirrored by Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a persistent Trump critic who told a local Nebraska reporter, “If he went through with the threats, I think it would be the end of his presidency. And he needs to know: the off-ramp is realizing Republicans aren’t going to tolerate this, and he’s going to have to back off. He hates being told no, but in this case, I think Republicans need to be firm.”

Former GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) went so far as to compare Trump’s threats vis-à-vis Greenland to ex-President Joe Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan pullout.

“Following through on this provocation would be more disastrous for the president’s legacy than withdrawing from Afghanistan was for his predecessor,” McConnell said, warning Trump was “incinerating the hard-won trust of loyal allies in exchange for no meaningful change in US access to the Arctic.” GOP leaders have also broadly warned that Trump was weakening NATO to the benefit of Putin and throwing Ukraine’s defense further into jeopardy.

Trump upped the ante following those criticisms by threatening on Saturday to impose a tariff of up to 25% on eight of the U.S.’s closest allies in Europe if a deal isn’t reached by June for the U.S. to take over Greenland. He then sparked further outrage by writing the Norwegian prime minister an unhinged letter linking his desire to take over Greenland to being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.

While neither House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) nor Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has publicly criticized Trump’s most recent bombast on Greenland, their members are undoubtedly feeling the heat as a midterm wipeout feels more and more likely.

The Senate almost stood up to Trump last week, narrowly voting down a resolution to rein in Trump’s war powers after Trump publicly threatened five GOP members who initially voted in favor of advancing the effort.

Trump flipped Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Todd Young (R-IN) after calling for their ouster from politics alongside Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Rand Paul (R-KY) – all of whom voted in favor of the final resolution. Vice President JD Vance had to cast a deciding tie-breaking vote to defeat the measure, which showed just how much support Trump had already lost on the issue of unilateral intervention.

“We have no troops on the ground in Venezuela. We’re not currently conducting military operations there,” Thune told reporters after the vote, adding, “But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds.” While Trump’s Greenland threats continue to show that “hysteria” is justified, exactly what Thune will do next remains unknown. Although we have a pretty good idea that Speaker Johnson won’t be leading any kind of opposition to Trump.

If Trump keeps threatening military action or actually goes forward with some kind of military maneuver against a NATO ally, it’s hard to imagine Senate Republicans will not intervene and stop him. But, then again, it would also be the first time Thune has stood up to Trump, and all bets are off on what he might actually do. McConnell had his chance to stand up to Trump during his second impeachment, but he passed on it, and it’s easy to imagine Thune folding in the same way. But as Congress faces a historic challenge to both its power and America’s role in the world, let’s hope Thune finds some courage of conviction.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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