House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sought to ease tensions and reaffirm unity between NATO countries in a historic speech to the British Parliament this week, offering assurances to allies even as President Donald Trump publicly muses about seizing Greenland.
Johnson spoke before the United Kingdom governmental body on Tuesday, the first time a U.S. speaker has ever addressed the parliament, to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States later this year. But the speech also coincides with strained relationships after Trump criticized the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer just hours before the speech as well as the president’s push to acquire Greenland despite the threat to NATO alliances.
“We have returned at a pivotal moment, obviously, in the great histories of our countries to mark this anniversary that we have in our nation, and to celebrate what we’ve achieved together in the past, and importantly to face and overcome together the challenges of our present day,” Johnson said. “We’ve always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends, and we will continue to do that. I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case.”
Johnson spoke with Trump “at length” on Monday to discuss the current state of affairs, during which the speaker told the president his objective for the speech was to “help to calm the waters” in the region.
To do so, Johnson said, the countries must lean on their centuries-old alliance not only to preserve their own strength but to combat “our adversaries and the terrorist and tyrants everywhere.”
“Let us look to agreement, continue our dialogue, and find a resolution just as we always have in the past,” Johnson said. “And in that process, I’m confident that we can and will maintain and strengthen our special relationship between these two nations, send a message of unity … that our nations that are dedicated to freedom and justice and order and human dignity, are stronger and more resolved now than ever before. I think it’s a very important message.”
Trump brings up Nobel Peace Prize amid Greenland dispute
The speech comes amid ramped-up talks within the Trump administration to acquire Greenland despite warnings from European countries that doing so would threaten the structure of NATO and transatlantic alliances.
Those tensions escalated over the weekend after Trump told Norway’s prime minister one of the reasons he wants to seize Greenland is because he didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize and therefore “no longer feel(s) an obligation to think purely of Peace.”
“Although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a message to the Norwegian leader.
The speech also follows threats from Trump last week to impose 10% tariffs on seven NATO countries until a deal is reached for the U.S. to purchase Greenland from Denmark, which has so far refused any such sale. Those tariffs would increase to 25% by June 1 if a deal isn’t reached by then, Trump said.
Johnson sought to frame those efforts by Trump as a way to tamp down threats from adversarial countries, noting the president is merely “taking seriously the modern and dynamic threats that China and Russia posed to our global security, especially and in focus the last few days as it relates to the Arctic.”
“We see a callous disregard for basic human rights, new provocations, and even the theft of intellectual property on a scale like we have never seen before,” Johnson said. “We ignore these threats at our peril. And I want to hasten to express our gratitude to the U.K. and to all of you for joining us in some of our most recent actions to deter these hostile regimes, including the recent seizure of a black market vessel seeking to circumvent oil sanctions.”
The actions have prompted some Republicans to push back against Trump’s efforts, including Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who introduced a bill last week to prevent any U.S. military action against a NATO member.
“This should be unnecessary but I’ve sponsored this bill because the Administration keeps threatening Greenland and Denmark,” Bacon wrote in a statement. “I served in NATO and served with many Europeans in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Admin is wrong to treat our Allies so poorly and foolishly.”
Other lawmakers, such as Utah Rep. Blake Moore, have brushed off the threats as unserious. Moore opposed annexation of the territory in a bipartisan statement last week, suggesting such a move would be “needlessly dangerous.”