Following a trip to Denmark, Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) highlighted the dangerous effects of President Donald Trump’s threats to invade Greenland.

As the Washington Blade reports, over the weekend, McBride — the first out transgender person to serve in Congress — was one of 11 members of Congress who traveled to Copenhagen, where, as she told MeidasTouch this week, she met with the leaders of Greenland and other European countries.

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In a statement, McBride noted that the purpose of the bipartisan delegation — which included Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE.), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), as well as Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Sarah Jacobs (D-CA) — was meant “to reaffirm our support in Congress for our NATO ally, Denmark,” according to the Blade.

“At this critical juncture for our countries, our message was clear as members of Congress: we value the U.S.-Denmark partnership, the NATO alliance, and the right of Greenlanders to self-determination,” McBride wrote in a Sunday Facebook post.

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The trip came as Trump ramped up his calls for the U.S. to take control of Greenland. In recent weeks, the president has signaled his willingness to use military force to annex the Danish territory.

Over the weekend, PBS News reported on a leaked text exchange with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in which Trump said he “no longer feel[s] an obligation to think purely of Peace” since he was not awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, while reiterating his claims that Denmark cannot protect Greenland from Russia and China. (Støre confirmed the message on Monday.)

As The New York Times notes, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also suggested during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press that the U.S. could take Greenland by force.

However, according to the Times, Pentagon officials said Tuesday that they have not been instructed to plan an invasion. And while he continued to demand control of Greenland during his Wednesday speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said the U.S. would not take the territory by force, the Times reports.

But in her interview with MeidasTouch, McBride highlighted the effects Trump’s bluster has already had, nonetheless.

“What people here at home have to understand is, it’s easy to turn on the news and look at all of this and just dismiss it as political games and traditional Trump saber rattling,” she told the outlet. “[But] this is existential for the people of Greenland, for the people of Denmark. The fear is palpable. Kids are not sleeping in Greenland because of their fear that the United States will invade. This mere discussion is having an effect.”

McBride: This is existential for the people of Greenland and Denmark. Kids are not sleeping in Greenland because of their fear that the U.S. will invade. pic.twitter.com/2UTd6O27Pz

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2026

Indeed, amid Trump’s threats, Denmark and eight other U.S. NATO allies — including Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, and the U.K. — deployed troops to Greenland over the weekend. Trump retaliated by threatening to impose steep tariffs on the countries, leading global markets to plummet on Tuesday.

McBride added that Trump’s manufactured crisis is also tarnishing the U.S.’s reputation.

“Denmark historically has had some of the most pro-American sentiment among the public there. That has dropped from above 80 percent to single digits because of this administration’s reckless, cruel, and frankly stupid — as our Republican colleagues have said — stupid approach to trying to seize Greenland,” she said, likely referring to Tillis’s recent speech from the Senate floor.   

McBride: Denmark historically has had some of the most pro-American public sentiment. That has dropped from above 80% to single digits because of this administration’s reckless, cruel, and frankly—

Jacobs: Stupid.

McBride: Stupid approach. pic.twitter.com/DzvEaCE4a1

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2026

“There is nothing that we could seek economically or militarily that Greenland and Denmark are not willing to provide us if we simply ask,” McBride said. “There is no reason for us to seize Greenland and doing so would fundamentally undermine our NATO alliance, which has been the greatest force for peace and security for 80 years.”

McBride also refuted Trump’s recent claim on Truth Social that NATO would not come to the United States’ aid if we were attacked.

“That is not only untrue, it is historically inaccurate,” she told MeidasTouch. “The only time that Article 5, our collective defense, has been invoked by NATO is after 9/11 in defense of the United States. And do you know which country in Europe lost more people per capita than the United States in Afghanistan in defense of under NATO – was Denmark.”

McBride: The president said that NATO would not be there for us if we were attacked. The only time Article 5 has been invoked was after 9/11, in defense of the U.S. Do you know which country in Europe lost more people per capita than the U.S.? Denmark. pic.twitter.com/KORfGWZQXM

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2026

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