Expert on US delegation: They cannot influence Trump

The 11 US Senators and members of Congress who are currently visiting Denmark are all "friends" of Denmark and Greenland. They understand and agree with the Danish-Greenlandic position, so in that way we speak to the reverses, which does not have much importance in the current conflict, but which can give their voices more volume in the debate.

This is the assessment from Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, senior researcher at DIIS in US foreign policy.

The 11 US Senators and members of Congress who are currently visiting Denmark are all "friends" of Denmark and Greenland. They understand and agree with the Danish-Greenlandic position, so in that way we speak to the reverses, which does not have much importance in the current conflict, but which can give their voices more volume in the debate.

This is the assessment from Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, senior researcher at DIIS in US foreign policy.

Support for the Kingdom

On Friday, members of Inatsisartut's Foreign and Security Policy met Committee  with the delegation of US Senators and congressmen to discuss the current crisis between Greenland, Denmark and The USA based on Trump's announcements about taking over Greenland.

In announcements from the leader of the delegation – the democratic one senator Chris Coons -  the meetings were about “showing support for the Kingdom Denmark and discuss how to “deepen partnerships in accordance with common principles of sovereignty and self-determination.”

In addition to Chris Coon, who represents Delaware, the Democratic senators attended Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Peter Welch of Vermont as well as Republican Senators Thom Tillis, who represents North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski, representing Alaska. Finally, the Democratic congressmen attended Gregory Meeks, Madeleine Dean, Sara Jacobs, Sarah McBride, and Steny Hoyer.

– The political message of the specific group is to show that there are voices in Congress in both parties that distance themselves from Donald Trump's aggression towards Greenland. And that there are politicians who respect Greenland's sovereignty, and who want to strengthen the ties between the Commonwealth and the USA, says Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard.

Limited but not negligible power

The question is how much power the politicians in question have in relation to trying to change the president's agenda:

- Their power is not insignificant, given their positions in the United States a platform to speak to the American population via the media and thus influence public opinion.

- But it must also be said that, although both the Democrats and the Republicans are represented in the delegation, none of them are close with Donald Trump or are MAGA support, so they only have a limited ability to influence Trump and his administration.

Bills in Congress

The most prominent member of the delegation in relation to Greenland's senator in Alaska Lisa Murkowski, assesses Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard:

- She takes a real interest in Greenland and Arctic, and she has done that for many years. She is probably the one too politician in the US Congress who has the best understanding of what takes place in the Arctic.

Lisa Murkowski is described by Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard as a moderate Republican who is as far away from Donald Trump as you can possibly be in the Republican Party.

- She has often criticized Trump and was one of the few who voted for him to be impeached for the storming of Congress. It means of course she has zero options to influence Trump.

- But she is senator, and she is, among other things, a co-signatory of a bill that is put forward in Congress, which is basically about preventing the president from could annex or invade any NATO territory. So there she has of course some power. But by extension, I must also say that such a bill will probably not limit Trump.

The US Constitution says that when it comes to warfare, so be it only Congress can declare war, and only Congress can ensure the financing of the war.

- According to the constitution, the president must exercise exclusively as the head of the armed forces. But in practice we have seen - not just under Trump - but under several presidents in more recently, that they look closely at the wording in the constitution.

Economics might stop Trump

However, according to Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, that might be able to stop Trump is that, after a possible invasion of Greenland, he must have secured funding for warfare or for the purchase of Greenland, and Congress can oppose this. In addition, he will also have to have two-thirds support for a new treaty, for example, between Greenland and USA.

- So after a potential horror scenario where Trump has made use of military force in Greenland, Congress has more power. He will have a hard time there. But the bill in itself is not enough to stop him, says Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard, who also estimates that the mid-term elections in November may change the president's majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which may ultimately also make it more difficult for the president to implement his plans.