Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) compared President-elect Trump's talk of buying Greenland to the Louisiana Purchase.
Mr. Fetterman appeared on Fox News on Tuesday with Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) to discuss concerns surrounding Mr. Trump's call to acquire Danish territory as he prepares to take office again.
“There's a lot of talk about Greenland, for example, and… there's a lot of unusual things going on. And of course I would never support taking it by force.” Fetterman said.
He went on to note that it would be a “responsible conversation” to discuss acquisitions, including “just acquisitions.”
“If anyone thinks this is ridiculous, it's like, remember the Louisiana Purchase?” Fetterman said.
In 1803, the United States purchased land west of the Mississippi River from France.
Pennsylvania Democrats also highlighted the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867. “I'm open to having all kinds of conversations,” he said.
“Sometimes it might work, sometimes it might not, but it's part of an ongoing conversation,” Fetterman said.
President Trump reiterated his desire to purchase Greenland during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.
Greenland has been of strategic importance to the United States since at least the Cold War.
Observers have dismissed the idea that the United States could realistically acquire Greenland, and Denmark has stressed that the island is not for sale.
Fetterman said people need to slow down their protests against Trump's comments because he has not yet officially taken office.
“If you're going to obsess over every last tweet, every last conversation, every press conference, you need to pace yourself,” he said.
