President Donald Trump has said he wants the United States to take over the mineral-rich island

International news via Reuters:

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Greenland on Sunday, in a show of solidarity with Denmark meant to send a signal of European resolve after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to take over the island.

Greenland is a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark with the right to declare independence. Both the Greenland and Danish governments say it is not for sale and only Greenlanders can determine their future.

President Donald Trump has said he wants the United States to take over the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island, and has not ruled out force. His vice president, JD Vance, visited a U.S. military base there in March.

Macron, the first foreign leader to visit Greenland since Trump’s explicit threats to “get” the island, was invited by the prime ministers of Greenland and Denmark. He has said his visit is meant to prevent any “preying” on the territory.

“France has stood by us since the first statements about taking our land emerged. This support is both necessary and gratifying,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote on Facebook days ahead of Macron’s visit.

Asked if Macron would deliver an explicit message to the United States during his visit, an adviser to Macron told reporters: “The trip is a signal in itself,” without mentioning Trump.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told RTL radio on Sunday: “Greenland is a European territory and it is normal that Europe and notably France show their interest.” 

According to an IFOP poll for NYC.eu published on Saturday, 77% of the French and 56% of Americans disapprove of an annexation of Greenland by the U.S. and 43% of the French would approve using French military power to prevent a U.S. invasion.

Macron will visit the capital Nuuk, as well as a hydropower station funded by the EU and a glacier, and discuss Arctic security and climate change with his hosts.

Though Denmark is an EU member, Greenland is outside the bloc. The French adviser said the visit would be an opportunity to discuss how to give Greenland’s association partnership with the EU a “new dimension”.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made several visits to Paris after Trump’s threats to seek French and European backing, and has placed orders for French-made surface-to-air missiles, in a shift of focus for Copenhagen.

Enlisting the EU’s only nuclear power is a way for Denmark, long one of Washington’s most loyal allies in Europe, to project a form of hard power towards a suddenly more aggressive United States, said Florian Vidal of the Paris-based IFRI think tank. 

“The Trump administration’s more aggressive posture is a shock that makes the French vision of Europe, one that is more autonomous, appear more reasonable for Denmark,” he said. “From a Nordic point of view, France is a military power that counts.”

Reporting by Michel Rose in Paris and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; additional reporting by Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Dominique Vidalon in Paris; editing by Sophie Walker

Trump summoned 700 Marines from California who were trained to help in the L.A. mission

International news via Reuters:

About 50 U.S. Marines squared off against hundreds of protesters in front of a federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, with the crowd yelling in unison for them to go home. 

The Marines had been sent to the city by U.S. President Donald Trump along with federalized members of the California National Guard earlier this week over the objections of the state governor and the city’s mayor, as anger over immigration raids drew thousands of demonstrators into the streets. 

Jesus Arias, a Los Angeles-based attorney, was at the front of the crowd with a bullhorn, working to convince the Marines to abandon their post. 

“We are not your enemy, we are the people!” Arias said into the bullhorn as the Marines looked on. “You are breaking the oaths you took to be Marines. Wake up! Wake up!”

California Governor Gavin Newsom and local leaders have called Trump’s move an inflammatory provocation for the protests over the past week – demonstrations that the local sheriff on Friday said were 99% peaceful, with a only a handful of people engaged in violence and vandalism.

Trump summoned 700 Marines from California who were trained to help in the L.A. mission, including de-escalation and crowd control. 

The deployment sparked a debate about the use of the military on U.S. soil given Marines are trained for conflicts around the world rather than at home, but the Trump administration has defended its move by citing the need to maintain law and order. Trump, who is carrying out a campaign promise to deport illegal immigrants, has argued that Los Angeles would have burned down if he had not acted quickly.

The Marines were armed with M4 rifles and wore face shields and the same shin guards used by baseball catchers. They stood guard at the top of steps leading to the entrance of the Roybal federal building, which houses immigration offices and where ICE has held some undocumented detainees. The building has been a flashpoint for protesters all week. 

Just down the steps about 15 feet away, hundreds of protesters confronted the Marines, yelling in unison “Marines go home!” and “Shame! Shame!”

Several protesters hurled insults and invectives at the Marines, who did not react. Some in the crowd were telling them to take a knee or to join their demonstration. As of 4 p.m., there had been no physical altercation between the protesters and Marines. 

Kai Ly, a 45-year-old a Los Angeles resident, was in the crowd. 

“This is such a sad moment in time for the U.S.,” Ly said. “It’s sad to see that we’re so divided that we have Marines heading off against protesters.” 

Antoinette Gutierrez, 36, was another Los Angeles resident protesting before the Marines. 

“It’s disgusting to have the military, to have the Marines, turned against citizens,” she said. “It makes me embarrassed to be American.” 

Reporting by Brad Brooks in Los Angeles; Editing by Mary Milliken and Deepa Babington

Trump said he was briefed on the “terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota”

International news via Reuters:

Minnesota Police and the FBI kept up a massive manhunt on Saturday evening for a gunman posing as a police officer who killed a senior Democratic state assemblywoman and her husband in what Governor Tim Walz called a “politically motivated assassination.”

The suspect, identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, also allegedly shot and wounded a second lawmaker and his spouse, according to law enforcement officials and the FBI.

He fled on foot after firing at police at the home of slain former Minnesota House speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

Law enforcement officials said the suspect abandoned a vehicle that looked like a police SUV, in which officers found a “manifesto” and a target list of other politicians and institutions.

Boelter should be considered armed and dangerous and is believed to still be in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans told a news briefing, adding that it was too soon to determine a motive.

The suspect had links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters. Boelter also described himself online as a former employee of food service companies and was appointed in 2016 by Walz’ predecessor to the advisory Governor’s Workforce Development Board, according to state records.

David Carlson, 59, told Reuters that he has been sharing a house in Minneapolis with Boelter for a little more than a year and last saw him on Friday night. Then about 6 a.m. (1100 GMT) on Saturday, he received a text from Boelter. 

“He said that he might be dead soon,” said Carlson, who called police.

The list found in the vehicle abandoned by the suspect contained about 70 names, including abortion providers, and lawmakers in Minnesota and other states, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources. Officials said the Hortmans and the other victims – state Senator John Hoffman and his wife – were on the list.

ABC News, also citing law enforcement officials, said the list included dozens of Minnesota Democrats including Walz, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, Senator Tina Smith and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

POLITICAL MOTIVATION?

Melissa Hortman, a 55-year-old mother of two who had served 20 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, was remembered by Walz as someone with “grace, compassion and tirelessness.”

Walz, who was Kamala Harris’ Democratic vice presidential running mate in last year’s election, said the gunman went to the Hortmans’ residence after shooting the Hoffmans multiple times in their home in the nearby town of Champlin.

The Hoffmans underwent surgery, Walz said, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic” that they would survive “this assassination attempt.”

“This was an act of targeted political violence,” he said. “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”

The shootings prompted reactions of shock and horror from Republican and Democratic politicians across the country and calls for dialing back increasingly divisive political rhetoric.

The incident comes on the heels of a heated hearing in Congress on Thursday, in which Walz and two other Democratic governors defended their states’ policies to maintain sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, drawing attacks from Republicans who support Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

The Minnesota State Patrol chief, Colonel Christina Bogojevic, said police had found flyers in the suspect’s vehicle with “No Kings” printed on them but that he had no direct links to the thousands of nationwide “No Kings” protests on Saturday against President Donald Trump’s policies.

The protests were timed to counter Trump’s long-sought military parade in Washington. The organizing No Kings Coalition canceled all protests in Minnesota, citing a shelter-in-place order and the suspect’s at-large status.

Trump said he was briefed on the “terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers.”

“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!” Trump said in a statement.

POLICE IMPERSONATOR 

Hortman and her husband were shot dead in their home in Brooklyn Park, Walz said. The Minneapolis suburb is in the northern part of Hennepin County, a Democratic stronghold in a state where Republicans have made gains in recent years.

Before Hortman’s killing, the Minnesota House of Representatives she served in was evenly split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans.

The FBI released photos of Boelter wearing a rubber mask in a police-like uniform and offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Law enforcement officials said the gunman attacked the Hoffmans around 2 a.m. CDT (0700 GMT), then drove about 5 miles (8 km) to the Hortmans’ residence.

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said a “very intuitive” police sergeant who responded to the Hoffman attack asked colleagues to “proactively” check the Hortmans’ home.

The two officers arriving at the Hortmans’ residence saw a police-like vehicle with lights on and were immediately fired upon by the suspect. Bruley said they returned fire, but the suspect ran.

POLITICAL VIOLENCE SURGE

The pre-dawn Minnesota killings come amid a surge in U.S. political attacks in recent years, underscoring the dark side of the nation’s deepening political divisions.

These include the attempted 2020 kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and a man who broke into Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence in April and set it on fire.

In July last year, then-candidate Trump escaped an assassination attempt by a gunman while speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump has faced criticism from some opponents over his handling of incidents involving political violence.

In one of his first moves in office earlier this year, Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged with participating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Reporting by Tom Polansek and Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Jason Lange, Jarrett Renshaw, Sarah N. Lynch and Kanishka Singh; Writing by David Lawder and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Diane Craft and Deepa Babington