‘Division and dissension’: US senator Murkowski on Trump’s disrespectful Arctic policy

Lisa Murkowski is the senior US senator representing Alaska, a seat she has held for the Republicans since 2002 – despite repeated efforts by her own party to oust her Murkowski did not endorse – or by her own account vote for – US president Donald Trump in any of his three election campaigns, and she was one of seven Republican senators who voted to remove Trump from office at his second impeachment trial in 2021.

Senator Murkowski spoke to The Foreign Desk at the Munich Security Conference; she had just visited Greenland in the wake of Trump’s threats to seize the territory from the Kingdom of Denmark, by force if necessary.

How much damage has Trump’s Greenland fixation done to the transatlantic alliance?
Relationships matter. How we treat our friends matters. The trust that has built up over decades and generations matters. And so when words like ‘occupy’ or ‘take over’ or ‘buy’ or ‘acquire’ are used that disrespect a sovereign territory, and disrespect the autonomy of the people of Greenland, that’s a problem. But it’s something that can be reconciled through honest dialogue and openness about what is being sought. If we’re talking about shared security interests in the Arctic space, let’s think about it.

Was the welcome in Greenland to a Republican senator at all equivocal?
I didn’t feel that at all. There was an appreciation for the fact that there was a bipartisan delegation from the US that was there to share a message: we want to engage in a co-operative dialogue. 

You’ve spoken to spoken to Monocle before about the US not taking the security of its own patch of the Arctic seriously enough, ie the state you represent. While Trump was talking about taking Greenland, were you sitting in Juneau wondering: how did we get here?
We need to recognise that the Arctic has been under-appreciated, not just by the US but around Nato. Investment in the Arctic has been limited at best. There’s a great deal of focus right now on Greenland and what we need to do for security on that eastern side of the continent. But I maintain that just as important is ensuring that on the western side, where Alaska sits right smack next to Russia. We need investment in everything from communications to defence. We’ve got work to do in the Arctic. So when you [Trump] suggest that the way to address that is to occupy Greenland, that creates division and dissension, rather than a focus on: what are we going to do jointly, co-operatively, to protect this vast area of the globe that is pretty wide open.

And are you hoping that secretary of state Marco Rubio spent some of his flight to Munich rereading ‘How To Win Friends And Influence People’, as vice president JD Vance clearly didn’t last year?
I’ve known Secretary Rubio for a long time, and he is a man with quick wit and a lot of charm. So I’m hoping that this is going to be a great conversation.