FIRST ON FOX: A House Republican is pushing for Greenland to become the country's 51st state as President Donald Trump publicly pushes for the Danish territory to come under U.S. rule.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., is introducing a bill on Monday aimed at authorizing Trump "to take such steps as may be necessary" to acquire Greenland and set it on the pathway of becoming part of the United States.
"I think it is in the world's interest for the United States to exert sovereignty over Greenland," Fine told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"Congress would still have to choose to make it a state, but this would simply authorize the president to do what he's doing and say the Congress stands behind him. And then it would expedite it into becoming a state, but it would still be up to Congress about whether to do that."
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he would be meeting with officials from Denmark this week to discuss Greenland.
Trump has publicly pushed for the idea of the U.S. buying the Arctic island territory since his first term in the White House.
He and other Republican officials have pointed out its strategic importance, including Greenland's proximity to Russia and the critical minerals located within its borders.
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Fine agreed with those points while also arguing U.S. rule would be better for those living in Greenland as well.
"Their poverty rate is high. Denmark hasn't treated them well," Fine said. "When war came to town, Denmark couldn't protect them. Guess who protected Greenland during World War II? We did."
And while a majority of Republicans have conceded they understand Trump's argument for why owning Greenland would benefit the U.S., GOP lawmakers were somewhat rattled after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not rule out using military force to acquire the island during a recent press conference this month.
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Asked if he would support using military force, Fine said, "I think the best way to acquire Greenland is voluntarily."
"The poverty rate in Greenland is much, much higher than it is in Denmark. The country is run by socialists, and it is not in America's interests to have a territory that large between the United States and Russia run by socialists," Fine said.
The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to admit new states into the Union.
It typically requires Congress to pass a bill authorizing the new state after a territory is formed, after which that territory must draft a state constitution approved by people who live there.
Congress must then vote again to admit that new state before it's made final with the president's signature.
