President Donald J. Trump participates in an official welcome ceremony Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, with the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg and the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the 70th anniversary of NATO in Watford, Hertfordshire outside London. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
Former United States' ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford said Monday the rhetoric coming from President Donald Trump regarding Greenland is "terrifying" and "authoritarian."
"I think we have to call out this kind of authoritarian rhetoric when we hear it from the president," Gifford argued.
"[Trump] is considering using the United States military order to attack a [North Atlantic Trade Organization] ally, and it's really heartbreaking," the former envoy said during an appearance on CNN Monday.
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"I think as someone who served in the post, who understands this relationship, who has been to Greenland nine times to hear the president of the United States use words like this against one of our best allies. It is truly heartbreaking," he said.
Gifford, who served as the ambassador to Denmark from 2013 to 2017, said this was the kind of talk that Americans used to fight against.
Asked if Trump would be in violation of NATO's Article 5 if he goes ahead with the plan, Gifford said it is impossible to know, adding when NATO was founded, the idea that one NATO ally would invade another was "unthinkable."
"The United States would have veto power in that in that case, in that scenario. So you really don't know what would happen," he said.
On Sunday, Trump repeated his threat of using military force to annex Greenland. The president's remarks came despite the semi-autonomous nation previously saying it wants to remain independent.
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During an appearance on Meet the Press Sunday, the president was asked if he was serious about invading Greenland.
“I don’t rule it out,” the president said. “I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything.”
Watch the video below or at this link.