US lawmakers to visit Denmark as Trump continues to threaten Greenland

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation is headed to Copenhagen later this week in an attempt to show unity between the United States and Denmark as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to threaten to seize Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of the NATO ally.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is leading the trip of at least nine members of Congress, including Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The group will be in Copenhagen on Friday and Saturday and will meet with high-level Danish and Greenlandic government officials and business leaders.

In an interview with the Associated Press on Monday, Coons said the delegation wants to send a message that “we understand the value of the partnership we have long had with them, and in no way seek to interfere in their internal discussions about the status of Greenland.”

Coons stressed that the United States and Denmark have long been allies, noting that the northern European nation came to the U.S.'s defense in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and have for years worked in tandem on other priorities.

“As long as we have been constructive and respectful allies, the Danes have been open arms with us on security and investment and the region,” Coons said, adding: “I think the only thing that has changed is the recent statements by the president and the extent to which it seems to have gone from casual to serious, and I just think it’s important for us to be heard as strongly supporting NATO and our alliance.”

The delegation considered traveling to Greenland on the trip, but ultimately could not due to logistical issues, according to a person familiar with the trip planning who was granted anonymity to discuss earlier private discussions.

Tensions have grown between Washington, Denmark and Greenland this month as Trump and his administration push the issue and the White House considers a range of options, including military force, to acquire the vast Arctic island. Trump reiterated his argument that the U.S. needs to “take Greenland,” otherwise Russia or China would, in comments aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

He said he’d rather “make a deal” for the territory, “but one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.” Danish and Greenlandic envoys are expected in Washington this week for talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

China responded in kind on Monday, saying the United States should not use other countries as a “pretext” to pursue its interests in Greenland and said that China’s activities in the Arctic comply with international law.

Asked in Beijing about U.S. statements that it is necessary for Washington to take over Greenland to prevent China and Russia from taking control, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning replied that “China’s activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting peace, stability, and sustainable development in the region and are in accordance with international law.” She didn’t elaborate on those activities.

“The rights and freedoms of all countries to conduct activities in the Arctic in accordance with the law should be fully respected,” Mao said, without mentioning Greenland directly. “The U.S. should not pursue its own interests by using other countries as a pretext.”

She said that “the Arctic concerns the overall interests of the international community.”

Coons said in addition to reinforcing the U.S.’s relationship with Denmark, he wants the trip to emphasize that “there is no imminent threat to Greenland from the Chinese and the Russians.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO. On Friday, Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and the leaders of the four other parties in the territory's parliament issued a joint statement reiterating that Greenland's future must be decided by its people and emphasizing their “wish that the United States’ contempt for our country ends.”

Greenland’s leader also issued another statement on Monday, saying Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and part of NATO through the Realm.

“This means that our security and defense belong within NATO. This is a fundamental and firm line,” he said.

“We are a democratic society that makes our own decisions. And our actions are based on international law and the rule of law.”

China in 2018 declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to gain more influence in the region. Beijing has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.

Houses covered by snow are seen on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A woman cleans her car from snow in Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People walk out from a plane after arriving at the airport, in Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

FILE - Danish military forces participate in an exercise with hundreds of troops from several European NATO members in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

FILE - A boat rides though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, on March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly sued the Pentagon on Monday over attempts to punish him for his warnings about illegal orders, claiming the Trump administration trampled on his constitutional rights to free speech.

Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot who represents Arizona, is seeking to block his censure last week from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said he censured Kelly over his participation in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders.

Hegseth said the Jan. 5 censure — by itself simply a formal letter with little practical consequence — was “a necessary process step” to proceedings that could result in a demotion from Kelly’s retired rank of captain and subsequent reduction in retirement pay.

Kelly asked the federal court in Washington, D.C., to rule that the censure letter, the proceedings about his rank and any other punishments against him are “unlawful and unconstitutional."

“The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech,” his lawsuit says. “That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.”

U.S. District Judge Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, scheduled a hearing on Thursday in Washington, D.C., for Kelly's request for a temporary restraining order.

The legal action of a sitting U.S. senator suing the defense secretary is rare, if not jarring, and the latest effort from members of Congress to push back against what they see as an out-of-control executive branch.

The censure stemmed from Kelly’s participation in a video in November with five other Democratic lawmakers — all veterans of the armed services and intelligence community — in which they called on troops to uphold the Constitution and not to follow the Trump administration's military directives if they were unlawful.

The 90-second video was first posted on a social media account belonging to Sen. Elissa Slotkin. Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan also appeared in the video.

Republican President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” in a social media post days later.

Kelly and the other lawmakers have not backed down from their video, which was released as the Pentagon began attacking suspected drug-smuggling boats in the waters near Venezuela. The attacks have now killed at least 115 people.

The Pentagon opened an investigation of Kelly in late November, citing a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other punishment.

Although all six lawmakers served in the military or the intelligence community, Hegseth said Kelly was the only one facing investigation because he is the only one who formally retired from the military and still falls under the Pentagon’s jurisdiction.

Hegseth, the Defense Department, Navy Secretary John Phelan and the Navy are named as defendants in the lawsuit. The Pentagon said in a statement it was aware of the lawsuit, but "as a matter of policy, the Department does not comment on ongoing litigation.”

Kelly said in a statement on Monday that he is “standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms.” He accused Hegseth of trying to suppress dissent by threatening military veterans with depriving them of their rank and pay.

“That’s not the way things work in the United States of America, and I won’t stand for it,” Kelly said.

Associated Press writer Ben Finley and Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., exits the Senate chamber after speaking out against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's efforts to censure him over his participation in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FILE - Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., refutes efforts by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to intimidate him and other lawmakers after expressing concerns over U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean, during a news conference at the Capitol, in Washington, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)