Thom Tillis

A Rhetoric of Checks and Balances:
Remarks on U.S.-Denmark Relations and White House Statements on Greenland

delivered 7 January 2026, U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.

Audio mp3 of Address       Audio AR-XE mp3 of Address

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

Thank you, Mr. President and I appreciate the opportunity to come to the floor and talk about a couple of things.

Earlier today, we had a classified briefing on the -- the situation in Venezuela. And -- And I have to say that I'm very impressed and thankful for the expertise, the resources, and the -- and the work that was done by men and women on the ground. It was truly an extraordinary operation that couldn't have been done by any other nation than the United States.

I hope those who were injured, I understand they are recovering, that some of them have been released from the hospital, but I hope that they heal up safely and they know that we're eternally grateful for bringing a transnational criminal to justice, hopefully so, as he goes through our court system.

But Mr. President, I'm also here to talk about what I think is amateurish behavior with respect to the treatment of our NATO allies. And it has to start with an interview that I saw with one of the President's senior policy advisors Stephen Miller on CNN a couple of nights ago. Mr. Stephen Miller said that the U.S. government -- "obviously" Greenland should be part of the U.S.¹

That. Is. Absurd.

We have to go back and take a look at the relationship with Greenland, and why am I coming to the floor, a Senator from North Carolina. Because since 2018, I have been the Republican leader for the Senate NATO Observer Group. I've gone to every NATO conference. I've gone to [the] Mun[ich] Security Conference. I've met with almost all of the leaders of the countries who are part of the 32-nation coalition known as NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance -- Organization.

Now, let's talk about why I think it was an amateurish comment and something that a Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor should not have taken the position on.

Number one: He doesn't speak for the U.S. Government. He speaks for the President of the United States, and on that basis he can. But when he says that the U.S. Government thinks that Greenland should be a part of NATO, he should talk to people like me who have an election certificate and a vote in the U.S. Senate. Because I know what he either doesn't know or he should know, and if he did know, I can't imagine why he'd make the comments he did the other night in a television interview.

Let me give you some facts about Denmark, for example.

Denmark, who is -- who has responsibility for Greenland, although Greenland is an autonomous territory under NATO, it's a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. (But let's talk about Denmark for a minute.) Denmark is one of NATO's most disproportionately high contributors in Afghanistan relative to its population size and force structure. What do I mean there? There has been one time in the 75-year history of NATO that the NATO responded to the Article V commitment, which means when one of our NATO allies are [sic] attacked, we go there to defend them. It's been exercised one time in the history of the alliance: to come to the aid of the United States in the war on terror in Afghanistan.

Since their first mission began, more than 18,000 Danish soldiers have deployed to Afghanistan, with American and British forces. Throughout their deployments in Afghanistan, 43 of their soldiers lo[st] their life [sic] fighting alongside American soldiers defending our freedom and holding the Taliban and al-Qaeda responsible for the events of September the 11th. Forty-three soldiers losing their lives. There are only about five or six NATO countries who lost more. And what's remarkable about this is this is a country of about six million people. On a per-capita basis, Denmark suffered over six times the fatality rate of Germany and more than three times the fatality rate of France, matching or exceeding losses much larger than allies with far greater resources.

So, despite its small military, Denmark has deployed forces to some of the most kinetic -- some of the most dangerous, kinetic combat zones, particularly Helmand Province, fighting alongside UK units at the height of the insurgency Danish forces accepted frontline combat roles. Some lost their lives as a result of it; not low-risk, symbolic missions. For a small democracy, sustaining this level of risk over more than a decade reflects a serious commitment to NATO and a serious commitment to the safety and security of the United States.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I could have that specific language and the list of NATO countries who came to our aid, and a photograph of our U.S. Marines thanking the Danes for their work that they did in Afghanistan submitted to the record.

Mr. President, some people around here call me cranky -- I’ve got a couple of buddies that call me cranky. You know what makes me cranky? Stupid. What makes me cranky is when people don’t do their homework. What makes me cranky is when we tarnish the extraordinary execution of a mission I fully support in Venezuela by turning around and making insane comments about how it is our right to have territory owned by the -- the Kingdom of Denmark. Folks, amateur hour is over! You don't speak on behalf of this U.S. Senator or the Congress. You can say it may be the position of the President of the United States that Greenland should be a part of the United States, but it’s not the position of this government, because we are a co-equal branch. And if that were [to] come to pass, there would be a vote on the floor to make it real -- not the surreal sort of environment that some Deputy Chief of Staff thinks was cute to say on TV!

So, you want to get me back to thanking the President for all the good things he’s doing? Then give him good advice. One of two things happened with Greenland. Either, one, the President came up with the idea that maybe we should have Greenland as a part of our assets -- and somebody said, "That's a great idea." Versus saying, "Mr. President, take a look at our alliance. Take a look at the most important alliance in the history of the United States, the NATO alliance. This could actually destabilize that, Mr. President." "Mr. President, you should know at one point we had 17 military installations in Greenland and they'd be happy to have us back. They're not refusing to have us have access to project power into the Arctic. We could do it without taking over a NATO country."

That's the sort of advice should have [given him], so if the President thought it was a good idea then he needs the expertise to say, "Mr. President, that's why this is not a good idea." And I would defy you to find any credible General with a star on his shoulder who would say that it is, because they understand that the NATO alliance is what has kept this nation largely, or this world, largely safe for over 75 years.

The flip side could be that Mr. Miller or somebody else said, "Hey, this would be cool. Let's take over Greenland. It'll be like a big aircraft carrier.

Well, that's stupid, too.

And I'm sick of stupid.

I want good advice for this President because I want this President to have a good legacy. And this nonsense on what’s going on with Greenland is a distraction from the good work he’s doing -- and the amateurs who said it was a good idea should lose their jobs.

¹ Relevant quotations from CNN's interview with Stephen Miller:  "I just wanted to reset Jake by making clear that has been the formal position of the U.S. Government since the  beginning of this Administration, frankly going back into the previous Trump Administration that Greenland should be part of the United States. The President has been very clear about that. That is the formal position of the U.S. government. . . . Jake, the -- the real question is by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark? The United States is the power of NATO. For the United States to secure the Arctic region to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States." [emphasis added]

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