WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee; Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ranking Member (D-Ill.) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s repeated annexation threats and the risk that poses to U.S. national security.

“President Trump’s ongoing threats to annex Greenland, the Panama Canal, and Canada present profound dangers to U.S. national security. The President’s tilt toward authoritarian rhetoric and policy undermines the rules-based order that the international community has spent decades building since World War II and that has benefited U.S. security and economic prosperity.

“The President of the United States has adopted a blatant ‘might makes right’ view in which anyone, anywhere is simply there for the taking. This sends a horrible message to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, condoning their disregard for the rules-based order. President Trump is pushing our country into territory that threatens to leave us alone to face other challenges we cannot overcome on our own.

“We urge all Members of Congress, especially our Republican colleagues, to reject these irresponsible threats against allies and partners as dangerous and unprincipled attacks on the international system and our own national security.”