Unionist MLAs criticise Trump over Greenland takeover in Stormont Assembly - and also criticise Alliance and Protocol
Members of all three unionist parties have spoken out against Donald Trump’s drive towards annexing Greenland.
Speaking on the floor of the Stormont Assembly this afternoon, criticism of Mr Trump’s actions was universal from MLAs from the TUV, DUP, UUP, SDLP, Alliance, Sinn Fein and People Before Profit.
Over the years, unionists in the Assembly have been more warmly disposed towards Mr Trump than their rivals.
In addition, some of the unionist speakers turned their fire on the Protocol / Windsor Framework, and DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley rounded upon Alliance deputy leader Eoin Tennyson.
Mr Tennyson said that some MLAs were unable to bring themselves to criticise Mr Trump’s tariffs.
All of this comes as Mr Trump threatens to impose a 10% tariff on European nations who oppose his plan for an outright takeover of the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland (population: 57,000).
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston spoke first.
He had tabled the debate, which was held under the title “president Trump's tariff decision”.
He made reference to “economic bullying”, and said “the people of Greenland have made it abundantly clear that their future is not for sale to the highest bidder”.
"This morning, our Prime Minister rightly condemned the tariff threat, stating that penalising allies over joint security commitments in the Arctic is completely wrong,” he said.
"He affirmed that decisions about Greenland's future lie with its people and Denmark, as they should.
"However, while the Prime Minister claims to champion sovereignty abroad, he accepts a protocol that subjects the people of this part of the United Kingdom to rule by Brussels in over 300 areas of law…
"It is profoundly contradictory to claim that you stand with Denmark and Greenland against external coercion while accepting arrangements that undermine the democratic rights of the people of Northern Ireland.”
Mr Tennyson spoke next to condemn Mr Trump’s move as "an outrageous abuse of power” and a “hostile act”.
“Let us be clear: the sovereignty of Greenland is for the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark to decide,” he said, describing Mr Trump as a “bully” whose actions show the UK should “rejoin the customs union so that we are not dependent on the fleeting favour of one unreliable ally”.
Mr Tennyson said: “It is telling that many in the chamber who claim to put Northern Ireland first, including the member who spoke previously, are such fanboys of Donald Trump and fanboys for his dangerous approach to politics that they can barely utter a word of condemnation of the tariffs, which will hurt businesses and consumers in the United States and here in Northern Ireland.”
When DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley came to speak, he said: “Apparently, in the worldview of Eoin Tennyson, unionism is in some way implicated in the United States' position on Greenland.”
He went on to add: “Let me be absolutely clear. There are many issues on which many of my constituents and I agree with our friends and neighbours in the US Administration. I make no apology for saying so.”
These include “their strong stance on gender”, “their pursuit of peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia,” and “their belief that a strong nation must have strong borders”.
Mr Buckley continued: “All those issues fall short of Mr Tennyson's worldview, but here is the point: I can agree with the US administration on all those issues, yet still hold firm to the position that Greenland, the territory of a NATO ally, is not hostile territory for the United States and its people.
"It is for Greenlanders and the people of the Kingdom of Denmark to decide their constitutional future.
“Here is where the irony is almost breathtaking. The knock-off Emmanuel Macron, Mr Tennyson, waxes lyrical about Greenland's sovereignty, yet tell me this: has anyone ever heard the Alliance Party, or, indeed, Mr Tennyson, show one ounce of concern for Northern Ireland's sovereignty?
"I have certainly not heard him take that position. If anything, he has held it in outright contempt.
"From day one, Alliance was a rigorous implementer of a Northern Ireland Protocol that classed Northern Ireland in trading terms as a foreign entity…
"Although Alliance, the SDLP and Sinn Fein lament the potential loss of sovereignty in Greenland, Mr Tennyson cannot spare one single thought for the consequences of the protocol here for the people of Northern Ireland.”
UUP MLA Steve Aiken then began his contribution with a declaration of interest, “in that I previously worked for His Majesty's Government on the Arctic, and I also worked with the Arctic Council,” and recently delivered a talk on Arctic security.
He said: “There is no doubt that there is a security challenge in the Arctic, its growth driven by the climate emergency.
"Previously unsustainable areas and maritime routes have opened up, and the melting of permafrost has made access to strategic minerals, rare earths and oil and gas that much easier.
"Greenland is central to the opening of the Arctic and has attracted considerable interest from China and other areas…
"The United States had nine or 10 bases in Greenland; it now has only one.
"If the United States has security concerns, there is nothing to prevent it from reopening bases in Greenland.
"Indeed, Denmark and Greenland would actively welcome that because of the importance of building infrastructure, which is what they have done.
"The United States introducing tariff change to get what it wants does not make any sense.
"Anyone who served with the Danes in Afghanistan knows that they fought bravely in support of the United States in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
"Proportionately, Denmark gave more lives and had more people injured than virtually any other nation in NATO.”
He concluded: “Given everything else that is going on in the world, now is not the time to pick a fight with the Danes and the rest of NATO.”
Outside of unionism, nationalist MLAs spoke out against Mr Trump – namely, Sinn Fein’s Emma Sheerin (“like the Member for North Antrim [Mr Gaston], I am appalled by colonialism and have always stood against it”) and the SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole (“That man is, it appears, a madman. I say that genuinely; I do not mean to be histrionic or offensive, but one can draw no other conclusion from his actions.”)
Meanwhile People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll called Mr Buckley “Jonathan Trumpley”, and said the US president’s “capturing of Maduro, and now the actions towards Greenland, show that Trump and his regime are willing to go anywhere that suits to meet the needs of US capitalism and empire”.