Van Hollen on Trump Greenland push: 'This is not about security'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

01/18/26 5:02 PM ET


Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) criticized President Trump’s push to acquire Greenland on Sunday and said it is “not about security.”

“This is not about security, Jon. This is about a land grab. Donald Trump wants to get his hands on the minerals and other resources of Greenland, just like the real reason he went into Venezuela,” Van Hollen told ABC News’s Jonathan Karl on “This Week.”

“Had nothing to do with stopping drugs from coming to the United States. It’s all about getting his hands on American oil for his billionaire buddies,” he added.

The president has had his sights on Greenland, a Danish territory, for a while. However, he has ramped up threats to take over the Arctic island in recent weeks. Trump announced Saturday he will put in place a 10 percent tariff on Denmark and other European countries allied with it beginning next month.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5695125-van-hollen-trump-greenland/

[LilElf70]

1. I totally expected

this to happen. And you're right, it's all about the benjamins. That's all he cares about. It's not you and me. Never was. Never will be.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. True. This is NOT about "Security".

It's about: "TRUMP WANTS IT. GIVE IT TO HIM!!"

[ColoringFool]

3. "American oil"? I THINK NOT Unless He Means SOUTH American.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "'American oil'? I THINK NOT Unless He Means SOUTH American."

It's about the LATEST hucksters - the tech bros (AI) and crypto bros -

get his hands on the minerals and other resources of Greenland

(stuff needed to manufacture high-end chips and other parts - i.e., things that need "rare earth" minerals for example)

Greenland's rich but largely untapped mineral resources

[Martin Eden]

4. The power to levy tariffs resides with Congress, not the president -- except in times of "economic emergency"

How does The Felon's lust for Greenland constitute an economic emergency?

For that matter, he claims he's made the US economy great again -- so how are we still in an economic emergency?

Nobody seems to be pointing this out. Trump siezes power from Congress, then it just becomes normalized after a while.

[GiqueCee]

6. Excuse me, Senator...

... but that's VENEZUELAN oil. In 1975 Perez compensated the American oil companies for their investments when he nationalized the country's vast oil reserves, and invited them to share in the wealth by providing technical advice and services. The shitshow that followed is another story. And the oil reserves remain largely under-utilized, and the people of Venezuela have thus far received bupkis.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. CITGO

which I expect he is talking about and which was co-owned/managed by Venezuela via PDV Holdings (run by Hugo Chavez's cousin) but is a U.S. company.

I remember starting 20-some years ago when Chavez was sending free heating oil via CITGO to some of the poorest areas of the U.S. (initially and notably in the news was Maine for some of the Native American tribes there).

Help from Hugo Chavez: Free Heating Oil for Needy U.S. Families (Pew Research Center April 14, 2008)



Venezuela lost whatever control they had left in CITGO in 2024.

ETA - there were a bunch of threads about this during the DU2 days (and the current DU DuckDuckGo search doesn't seem to be pulling those up nor will Advanced Search do anything before DU3, which was implemented in 2011), but here is an example from 10 years ago - https://www.democraticunderground.com/1251596323

[GiqueCee]

8. Good info...

... thanks!