Sen. Rand Paul said congressional limits on presidential war authority are necessary not only over Venezuela but also amid rhetoric involving Greenland and other potential flashpoints.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday that a war powers resolution backed by several Republican senators is aimed at restraining presidential authority far beyond any single conflict, warning that recent rhetoric surrounding Greenland underscores the broader stakes of the debate.
Appearing on This Week with host Martha Raddatz, Paul addressed concerns over President Donald Trump and the possibility of military action in multiple regions, including Greenland.
When asked whether he believed Trump would actually use military force to take control of Greenland, Paul said he hoped not, while sharply criticizing the tone of recent statements.
“I would hope not,” Paul said. “But let’s say you wanted to buy Greenland, and I’m not disputing that that might be something we might want, to buy Greenland. You don’t get there by angering and denigrating the people who live there and saying, ‘We’re going to march the Marines in and take it if you don’t sell it to us.’”
Paul said such rhetoric was counterproductive and would only harden opposition among Greenland’s residents.
“It doesn’t make them very willing to sell to us,” he said. “So really, if your goal is somehow we’re going to rattle the saber and then they’re going to sell it to us, I think it’s having the opposite effect.”
The Kentucky senator added that support for a military takeover of Greenland was scarce on both sides of the Atlantic and in Washington.
“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone in Greenland for it, but you’d also be hard-pressed to find somebody in Washington who’s for a military invasion on either side of the aisle,” Paul said.
Still, he expressed concern that repeated references to military options keep the issue alive unnecessarily.
“The problem is, they keep rattling the saber,” Paul said. “They keep saying we’re going to do this. We keep this in our armamentarium that we will, you know, reserve the right to invade Greenland.”
Paul said that dynamic illustrates why the war powers resolution matters. The measure, which he and five other Republican senators supported, seeks to limit Trump’s ability to conduct military strikes without congressional authorization.
“That gets back to the War Powers Act,” Paul said. “That’s why this debate is so important, because it’s not just about Venezuela. It’s about Venezuela. It’s about Greenland. It’s about Colombia. It’s about Cuba. It’s about whether or not the people get a say in whether we go to war.”
Paul framed the issue as a constitutional question about Congress’s role in authorizing military action, warning that unchecked executive power risks entangling the United States in conflicts without public consent or legislative approval.
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