A Republican lawmaker has warned that the GOP could impeach President Donald Trump if he does one thing.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said that the Republican party could seek to remove him from office should he attempt to take Greenland by force, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
“I’ll be candid with you: There’s so many Republicans mad about this,” Bacon told the Omaha World-Herald. “If he went through with the threats, I think it would be the end of his presidency.”
Bacon, who voted against impeaching Trump twice during his first term, said an invasion of the self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and NATO ally would be “catastrophic” and the “worst idea ever.”
“He needs to know: The off-ramp is realizing Republicans aren’t going to tolerate this and he’s going to have to back off,” he continued. “He hates being told no, but in this case, I think Republicans need to be firm.”
Trump has said that the U.S. needs to take control of Greenland as a matter of national security. This week, the president said that anything less than full U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable.”
Greenlandic officials, meanwhile, have made it clear that the country will remain a part of Denmark. On Thursday, European countries, including France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, sent military troops to Greenland to support Denmark, according to Reuters.
Bacon, who is not seeking re-election, did not make it clear whether he would vote to impeach Trump over Greenland, but he said he’d strongly consider it, according to Omaha World-Herald.
“I don’t want to give you a definite yes or no, but I would lean that way,” he said. “It would be a total mistake to invade an ally. It would be catastrophic to our allies and everything. It’s just the worst idea ever in my view.”
Public opinion remains largely against Trump’s goal to control Greenland. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that 75% of U.S. adults oppose the idea of taking control of the territory.