An old clip in which Ted Cruz warns Donald Trump could ‘nuke Denmark’ if he becomes president has resurfaced online.
In the video, from the 2016 race to become the Republican presidential candidate, sees Cruz tell the press that America needs a leader “with the judgement and temperament to keep this country safe.”
Hitting out at Trump, Cruz says he doesn’t “know anyone who would be comfortable” with someone who behaves like Trump “having his finger on the [nuclear] button.”
READ NEXT: US bobsleigh team’s farcical run becomes perfect metaphor amid Greenland threats
He continued: “We’re liable to wake up one morning and Donald, if he were president, would have nuked Denmark.”
The clip has gone viral as Trump ramps up his rhetoric around taking control of Greenland.
Trump’s administration has not ruled out using military power to take Greenland, which Trump baselessly claims the US needs for its national security.
But because Greenland is a semi-autonomous Danish territory and Denmark is a NATO member, any military attack on Greenland could enact NATO’s article 5.
This states that an armed attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against them all.
Danish PM Mette Frederiksen has already warned that US military force would spell the end of the trans-Atlantic defence alliance, and the Danish defence ministry has made clear it would defend the region in the event of any invasion.
Denmark’s major European allies, and Canada, have rallied behind the country, stating that “only Denmark and Greenland can decide on matters concerning their relations”.
On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met with US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary State Marco Rubio at the White House for talks surrounding the future of Greenland.
After the meeting, Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said “fundamental disagreement” remained with the US over the issue.
Whilst Rasmussen said the meeting had bee “frank but constructive,” he added that it is “clear” Trump still has a “wish of conquering Greenland.”