Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in Greenland Monday that she feels terrible for the anxiety her country inflicted on the Danish territory.
“In just a few sentences and words, trust that has been built since World War II has been eroded and degraded," she told reporters in Nuuk. "We need to work to rebuild that trust.”
Murkowski was the sole Republican among four senators who took the trip to try to repair the relationship with Greenland after President Trump’s repeated threats to acquire the island.
The trip was part of her initiative to bolster what she calls a trans-Arctic alliance. She was part of another congressional trip to Denmark a few weeks ago.
The Greenland crisis seemed to abate last month, when Trump backed off threats to take the Danish territory by military force. But the visiting senators were asked if they could guarantee the president wouldn’t change his mind.
“The answer is no," said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who led the delegation. “We can only exert our role as a separate and co-equal branch of government. But we can't guarantee what the president may or may not do tomorrow, let alone two months from now.”
Murkowski said Congress will stand up for Greenland, if necessary.
“But I will also speak to the fact that there are some members of my party who don't want to be seen as engaging in anything that might be viewed as contrary to President Trump's initiative or desire, and so who may not be speaking out publicly," she said.
In private conversations, she said, Republican colleagues have assured her they won’t allow Trump to seize or control Greenland.
"I'm going to encourage them that they need to be more vocal in reinforcing that, because this should not be a partisan issue," she said. "Respect for the sovereignty of another nation, respect for our NATO allies — that should not be Democrat (or) Republican. It should be just pro-democracy"
