Critics of President-elect Donald Trump are breathlessly taking the Greenland talk out of context, particularly when it comes to use of military force, according to Vice President-elect JD Vance.
"We don't have to use military force: The thing that people always ignore is we already have troops in Greenland," Vance said in a TV interview Sunday. "Greenland is really important for America strategically. It has a lot of great natural resources."
It is not just Trump talking Monroe Doctrine-type takeovers, because Greenland wants independence from Denmark, according to Vance.
"My friend Donald Trump Jr. was there a couple of days ago and you know what they told him? They want to be empowered to develop," Vance continued. "The people of Greenland want to be empowered to develop the resources there.
"We also need to make sure that Greenland is properly cared for from an American security perspective. And frankly, the current leadership, the Danish government has not done a good enough job of securing Greenland."
Trump is showing leadership that Denmark is failing to show amid Russia and China ambitions in the Arctic north, Vance concluded.
"I think there actually is a real opportunity here for us to take leadership, to protect America's security, to ensure that those incredible natural resources are developed," Vance said.
"And that's what Donald Trump is good at. He's good at making deals. And I think there's a deal to be made in Greenland."
The liberal media fears of use of military force on Greenland came up during a Jan. 7 Mar-a-Lago news conference as a reporters tried to pin down Trump on committing to not using the military in Greenland or Panama.
Trump merely shot back "no" he would not commit to not using the military, because as he has said on many topics that "only a stupid person" would reveal military plans, but being noncommittal on Greenland does not mean there was any intention of a forceful military takeover, Vance intimidated.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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