Thom Tillis, Ted Budd show how split the GOP is on Trump’s Greenland threats | Opinion
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten is covering the 2026 election for The Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News & Observer.
North Carolina’s two U.S. senators have responded very differently to the Trump administration’s ludicrous fixation on taking over Greenland.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis scolded the idea in a fiery floor speech Wednesday, calling it “absurd.”
HIs speech was a direct shot at White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who said on CNN this week that “obviously, Greenland should be part of the United States” and claimed “nobody” would stop the U.S. from trying to seize it.
“I’m sick of stupid,” Tillis lamented, later adding that “the amateurs who said it was a good idea should lose their jobs.”
Good for Tillis. Using military force to acquire Greenland is a ridiculous notion that should not be entertained by any member of Congress. Even the idea of purchasing Greenland — whose residents have made it clear they do not want to be part of the U.S. — ought to be a nonstarter.
U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, meanwhile, has struggled to articulate any meaningful response to the idea.
In a recent interview with Spectrum News, Budd was asked whether intervening in Greenland is actually in America’s best interest.
“Look, I think what’s messaging and what’s actually done can perhaps be different,” Budd said. “They are resource-rich, and we do work with Denmark right now, and that’s a completely different decision.”
When pressed further, Budd simply said, “We have great international relations with Denmark and I expect that to continue.”
It sounds like a rather feeble attempt to avoid taking any sort of stance at all. That’s disappointing, because it should be quite easy to say that taking an ally’s territory by force is an absolutely terrible idea. Budd might be correct that these are empty threats the administration doesn’t intend to follow through on, but he ought to know that sometimes the message itself is the problem. Even the suggestion of seizing territory that belongs to a fellow member of NATO can damage relations with other countries.
Tillis and Budd’s responses represent two different ways of handling the Trump administration as its actions become bolder and more damaging. There’s the Tillis way, which has more recently meant speaking up about things that one believes are wrong. Then there’s the Budd way, which typically involves a choice between cheering on the president’s actions or attempting to avoid the subject altogether. Budd hasn’t gone as far as some Republicans who have openly backed the idea of seizing Greenland, but that doesn’t make his silence less shameful.
That split between North Carolina’s two senators reflects a larger split we’re seeing on a national scale. More recently, congressional Republicans become increasingly divided between those who, despite everything, remain loyal to the president, and those who once tried to fall in line but are now just fed up. The latter group includes Tillis, but it also includes people like U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who went from a fierce Trump ally to vocal critic.
Tillis, for his part, has grown to understand that his role as a member of Congress is not to be subservient to the White House, but to hold it accountable when necessary. Budd, unfortunately, does not. And if he is not willing to speak up about something dire as a potential attack on a NATO ally, where does he draw the line? Is there even a line at all?
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Thom Tillis, Ted Budd show how split the GOP is on Trump’s Greenland threats | Opinion."
