'Not for sale': GOP senator slams Trump’s Greenland obsession

29 January

At a No Labels event in Washington in December, conservative Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) made it clear that she doesn't identify with the MAGA wing of her party. Murkowski, according to Politico, told the crowd, "I don't think I’ve made any secret of the fact that I'm more of a Ronald Reagan Republican than I am a Trump Republican."

With President Donald Trump back in the White House, Murkowski is showing her willingness to stand up to him. The GOP senator was a "no" on Pete Hegseth, now defense secretary, in a Senate confirmation vote. And she is speaking out against Trump's proposal for the U.S. to buy Greenland.

Murkowski publicly declared that "Greenland is not for sale." And she told Aaja Chemnitz, a member of the Greenland Parliament, that she shares the MP's opposition to Trump's proposal.

The Nation's John Nichols, in an article published on January 29, reports, "Murkowski, who did not vote for Trump in 2016, 2020, or 2024, has emerged as the Senate's leading Republican dissenter since Trump returned to the White House. She was the first GOP senator to announce that she would vote against confirming Pete Hegseth, the president's scandal-plagued pick to lead the Department of Defense; two other Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, later joined her. And she has expressed skepticism about other Trump picks."

Nichols adds, "She has criticized the president's pardons of insurrectionists and 'strongly disagreed' with his executive order to rename Denali, the Alaskan peak that is North America's tallest mountain, for former Republican President William McKinley —saying, 'Our nation's tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years, must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska's Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial."

Nichols argues that Murkowski's "willingness to stand up to the latest Trump juggernaut has been striking."

The Nation staffer observes, "Murkowski’s intervention on behalf of Greenland is especially significant because she is aligning with international critics of the expansionist vision that Trump has outlined in speeches, press conferences, and conversations with global leaders."

Read John Nichols' full article for The Nation at this link.

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