3 GOP senators plotting to stop Trump from carrying out 'unprecedented act'

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U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

President Donald Trump's rhetoric about potentially deploying the U.S. military to occupy Greenland is worrying several Republican senators, who believe the president may end up torpedoing the NATO alliance over the Danish territory.

Semafor reported Wednesday that Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) are working behind the scenes to end-run Trump should he commit military resources to taking Greenland. Murkowski – who leads the Senate's Arctic Caucus along with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) — has held meetings with the foreign ministers of both Denmark and Greenland, and is set to travel to Copenhagen this weekend to meet with Danish leaders. Sen. Tillis is accompanying Murkowski on her trip to Copenhagen, and called the idea of taking Greenland "absurd."

Murkowski has also reportedly authored legislation with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to block funding for any U.S. military operation in any NATO state. In an official statement, Murkowski and Shaheen noted that Greenland was an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, and that any military operation on its soil would jeopardize the long-standing alliance and enable "threats from adversaries like Russia and China."

"The mere notion that America would use our vast resources against our allies is deeply troubling and must be wholly rejected by Congress in statute," Murkowski stated.

McConnell has also railed against Trump's attempts to make Greenland a part of the United States, and warned on Wednesday that doing so would risk "incinerating the hard-won trust of loyal allies in exchange for no meaningful change in U.S. access to the Arctic." He called the idea of invading Greenland an "unprecedented act of strategic self-harm."

"Following through on this provocation would be more disastrous for the president’s legacy than withdrawing from Afghanistan was for his predecessor," McConnell said in a Wednesday speech on the Senate floor.

The actions of the three senators are significant, as Republicans only have a 53-seat majority in the U.S. Senate. This means that if those three manage to peel off just one more member, it could take away Vice President JD Vance's ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. Those three may have an ally in Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who told Semafor that he's wary about provoking a NATO ally.

"We need to effectively discourage the administration from taking a step that I hope and don’t believe they will take," Moran said.

Click here to read Semafor's report in its entirety.

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