Republican Congressman Randy Fine has announced that he has introduced a bill to "seize" Greenland and grant it the status of an American state. He said that the changes are aimed at ensuring the US's strategic national security interests in the Arctic and countering threats from China and Russia.
"Greenland is not a distant outpost that we can ignore. it is a vital national security asset. Whoever controls Greenland controls the main Arctic shipping lanes and the security architecture that protects the United States. America cannot leave that future in the hands of regimes that despise our values and seek to undermine our security," Fine said.
The bill has not yet been introduced in Congress. A document released by the congressman's press office states that the US president is authorized to take necessary steps to "annex or otherwise acquire Greenland as a territory of the United States," including through negotiations with Denmark. After "completing such annexation," the president must submit to Congress the changes in federal law necessary to admit the "newly acquired territory" as a state.
