{"id":886222,"date":"2026-01-19T18:19:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/19\/ted-cruz-praises-trumps-greenland-push-10-years-after-warning-he-could-nuke-denmark\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T18:19:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:19:49","slug":"ted-cruz-praises-trumps-greenland-push-10-years-after-warning-he-could-nuke-denmark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/19\/ted-cruz-praises-trumps-greenland-push-10-years-after-warning-he-could-nuke-denmark\/","title":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz Praises Trump’s Greenland Push-10 Years After Warning He Could Nuke Denmark"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Topline<\/h2>\n

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Sunday defended the Trump administration\u2019s attempts to acquire Greenland\u2014a stark departure from his remarks 10 years earlier, which have resurfaced in a viral clip showing him warning that then-presidential candidate Donald Trump could have \u201cnuked Denmark\u201d if elected.<\/p>\n

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Cruz praised the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to acquire the Danish territory in an interview on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Key Facts<\/h2>\n
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Speaking to Fox News\u2019s Maria Bartiromo<\/a>, Cruz commended Trump for the Greenland push, framing it as a key component to his \u201cAmerica first\u201d agenda.<\/p>\n

Cruz said it was \u201coverwhelmingly in America’s national interest to acquire Greenland,\u201d echoing statements made by the White House and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.<\/p>\n

Cruz\u2019s recent statements in support of the Greenland acquisition have resurfaced an old clip<\/a> from his 2016 presidential campaign, when he positioned himself as a responsible alternative to what he framed as a potential chaotic Trump presidency.<\/p>\n

In the clip, Cruz told reporters on the campaign trail \u201cwe\u2019re liable to wake up one morning and Donald, if he were president, would have nuked Denmark.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Key Background<\/h2>\n

Cruz\u2019s comments come as Trump plans to increase pressure on Denmark and several European allies to sell Greenland to the United States. Danish and Greenlandic officials met<\/a> with White House counterparts last week, but seemingly failed to come to an agreement about the future of the territory. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said his nation still had a \u201cfundamental disagreement\u201d with the Trump administration over the island, later telling reporters \u201cit\u2019s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very very clear that this is not in the interest of the Kingdom.\u201d On Saturday, Trump threatened Denmark and seven other European nations, including the U.K., France and Germany, with steep tariffs<\/a> should Denmark refuse to sell the territory. Earlier on Sunday, Bessent told \u201cMeet the Press\u201d Trump would use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the same law used to apply sweeping tariffs across the board in 2025. The legality of the administration\u2019s use of emergency powers is being deliberated<\/a> by the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Chief Critic<\/h2>\n

Although some Republicans like Cruz have voiced support for Trump\u2019s plan to acquire Greenland, others have pushed back. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told \u201cMeet the Press\u201d<\/a> on Sunday he has heard no members of his caucus backing a military intervention to take Greenland, and also criticized the administration for threatening to use emergency powers to apply pressure through tariffs. \u201cEmergency powers are for emergencies,\u201d Paul said. \u201cThey should be short lived, and we can\u2019t throw out all of the Constitution\u2019s rules on where taxes originate because someone declares an emergency. There are no true emergencies, there\u2019s no emergency with Greenland, that\u2019s ridiculous. And the idea by the secretary that, \u2018oh, this is to prevent an emergency.\u2019 Now we\u2019re declaring emergencies to prevent emergencies? That would lead to endless emergencies. That\u2019s kinda where we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tangent<\/h2>\n

Acquiring Greenland remains broadly unpopular among Americans, according to a recent CBS News\/YouGov<\/a> poll taken from last Wednesday through Friday. About 70% of respondents disapproved of using federal funds to purchase Greenland. However, self-identified conservatives were more amenable to the idea, with 63% approving. Taking Greenland by force was very unpopular\u201486% of respondents disapproved, including 73% of conservatives.<\/p>\n

Further Reading<\/h2>\n

Forbes<\/span>Trump Announces 10% Tariffs On European Countries Supporting Greenland<\/span>By Mike Stunson<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>Forbes<\/span>U.S. And Denmark Still Have \u2018Fundamental Disagreement\u2019 About Greenland After White House Meeting, Danish Official Says<\/span>By Sara Dorn<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Zachary Folk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Topline Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Sunday defended the Trump administration\u2019s attempts to acquire Greenland\u2014a stark departure from his remarks 10 years earlier, which have resurfaced in a viral clip showing him warning that then-presidential candidate Donald Trump could have \u201cnuked Denmark\u201d if elected. Cruz praised the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to acquire the Danish territory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":886223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1039,163],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-886222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-praises","8":"category-trumps"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}