Despite President-elect Donald Trump's threat to take control of Greenland by force, Sen. James Lankford told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the United States is not going to invade the Danish territory.
The Oklahoma Republican said, "The United States is not going to invade another country. That's not who we are."
Lankford said Trump "speaks very boldly on a lot of things."
"We've seen this over how he's done negotiations, whether it be for real estate or how he served as a great president just four years ago.
"He makes a bold statement. He gets everyone to the table. You sit down to be able to talk it out," he said.
"He's done it with Canada, with Mexico, with Panama."
Trump is "going to continue to do this," the senator said.
"Quite frankly, the president's been very clear. He is the president that kept American troops out of war. He is not looking to be able to go start a war to go expand American troops.
"But he does want to be able to protect America's national security. And part of that is our economic security and our future," he said.
Lankford also told "Meet the Press" that he had decided to vote in favor of Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.
The senator suggested that he was convinced by Gabbard's declaration of support for Section 702, an intelligence-gathering tool that she consistently opposed while in Congress.
"That was a very important piece for me. Obviously, she voted against 702 authority," Lankford said.
"But she came out and said, 'Hey, this is something I'm going to stand for.' That's part of the role of the Office of National Intelligence is to make sure we're actually watching for people to come attack us and stopping them before they do."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.