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Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says “The only security threat to Greenland right now is the United States” – Not Russia or China

Sen. Warner: "Does President Trump not realize he looks kind of silly taking that prize from her as she tries to basically suck up to him?"

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See below for video and highlights from Sen. Mark Warner’s appearance this morning on Face the Nation:

  • “Well, Margaret, that’s the question of the hour [will there be any checks and balances on Trump from Congress]. I would hope so. We thought when the president took on the independence of the Federal Reserve, Congress might stand up. We thought when the president sent 20% of our fleet down off the coast of Venezuela, Congress might stand up. We got a vote on the War Powers Act, then the administration rolled back the Republican votes. Now the question is when the president is taking on potentially a new tariff war with our NATO partners, with threatening Greenland, will my Republican friends beyond saying quietly to me, ‘Mark, this is crazy’, will they say that publicly and stand up against a president that has brought chaos to the international order – and got to tell you is not making Americans safer when you threaten for example the security of of NATO, the most successful alliance in modern history. The only country that is frankly benefiting the most from this chaos are both Russia and China.”
  • “Of course, I would [vote for a bill called the NATO Unity Protection Act]. But remember…but let’s be clear about this. There currently, and as vice chair of the intel committee, I am very familiar what’s going on, there is no current security threat from Russia or China to Greenland. The only security threat to Greenland right now is the United States. I’ve been in touch with the bipartisan delegation who’ve met with the Danes who are over there now. The Danish people, frankly, are flipping out that their longest ally, America, is now threatening to invade part of their territory. Those other countries that Trump is now threatening with additional tariffs. Remember, the European Union’s already got a 15% tariff. The French, the Germans, the Norwegians have all put small numbers of troops in Greenland to help protect it, but also send the signal that if America attacks, they’re attacking our closest allies. And I would also point out, you know, America used to have 17 military bases in Greenland. We decided we didn’t need them all. We’re down to one military base. And on that base, there are more Danish partners on the base than American military. The Danes have made very clear that if we want more military bases, if we want more ability to extract critical minerals, they would welcome that. But it ought to be done in partnership and it ought to be done with the NATO allies. And I just point out Margaret, these are all tied together. This craziness around NATO weakens our ability to have the world rally against the Iranian regime right now, which has been brutal to its people. One of the reasons the president couldn’t take military action against the Iranians was because the aircraft carrier that would normally be there to  help our forces was off the coast of Venezuela. So all of this international chaos ties itself together, making America less safe. And when you see the Canadian prime minister in effect saying, you know, China may be a more dependable partner… If that doesn’t bring us all back, I’m not sure what would.”
  • “I can’t talk about anything specific, but what is in the public domain is that Israel, as well as all of our allies in that region, were concerned about a strike in terms of Iranian reprisals. And the fact that we don’t have all of our forces there, because part of our forces are off the coast of Venezuela, make us less of a threat. And there is a real question, what would you bomb? And is there a chance that that kind of kinetic action might make more support for the regime a rally around the flag? That doesn’t mean that we couldn’t be doing more cyber. It doesn’t mean, and I say I’ve got a lot of concerns with Elon Musk, but his Starlink operations are brilliant. We should be able to get more Starlink into Iran so the Iranian people can get reconnected to the internet. And our ability, for example, in a normal course, we would be rallying all of our NATO allies to also put pressure because they have relations with Iran. But most of our NATO allies are concerned about American potential military action in Greenland and the threat of additional tariffs. So, the ability for America to bring a concerted worldwide confrontation to this awful Iranian regime – and the Iranian people are extraordinarily brave to stand up – we need to do more, but some of our options are limited because of the chaotic approach the president is taking around the whole world.”
  • “Well…what the American military did in Venezuela was extraordinary. Nobody else could do that. And the president’s goal, which he’s made clear was mostly about oil, not about the Venezuelan people, it will take years for the Venezuelan oil fields to get up back operating to anything close to efficiency. Maduro was awful on that. But our ability to strangle off and keep the chokehold on the Venezuelan regime keeps that fleet blockading Venezuela. Are we going to keep that fleet, 20% of our fleet, off the coast of Venezuela for the next three years?…We have asked and they we have not gotten a response on how long the fleet will be there. And one thing that I would also point out now, and let me be clear, the Biden administration screwed up in 2024 when the Venezuelan people voted overwhelmingly to throw out Maduro and we didn’t push him out. But to suddenly say to the leader, Machado, who was leader of the Venezuelan opposition, who got the Nobel Prize. I mean does President Trump not realize he looks kind of silly taking that prize from her as she tries to basically suck up to him? And the fact is what she has said, and again publicly, is that yes you got rid of Maduro but the same people who tortured and imprisoned the Venezuelan opposition are still in control of the regime. Where does that lead the Venezuelan people and where does that lead us to a better relationship frankly a partnering relationship with Central and South America and not a colonial relationship which is again to seem what the president seems to be intending?”

Sen. Mark Warner: “The Danes have made very clear that if we want more military bases, if we want more ability to extract critical minerals, they would welcome that. But it ought to be done in partnership and it ought to be done with the NATO allies.”

Q: “Will there be any checks and balances from Congress?”

Sen. Mark Warner: “That’s the question of the hour. I would hope so, but we thought when the president took on the independence of the Federal Reserve that Congress might stand up. We thought when the president sent 20% of our fleet down off the coast of Venezuela, Congress might stand up.”

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