Rubio on U.S. buying Greenland: "Might as well have more control"

• The former Florida senator noted that the U.S. has a defense agreement with Denmark to protect Greenland if it comes under assault. "If we're already on the hook for having to do that, then we might as well have more control over what happens there," he said.

What he's saying: "This is not a joke," Rubio said on "The Megyn Kelly Show" on SiriusXM Thursday. "This is not about acquiring land for the purpose of acquiring land. This is in our national interest and it needs to be solved."

• He called it "a national interest item for the United States."
• Rubio added, "What I think you can rest assured of is that four years from now, our interest in the Arctic will be more secure."

Context: Greenland views itself as an autonomous country that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and it has the option of declaring independence under the 2009 Greenland Self-Government Act.

• Trump has floated buying Greenland since his first term. He recently refused to rule out military force to acquire the territory.

• Denmark's Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, reiterated to Trump in a call earlier this month "that Greenland is not for sale."
• Frederiksen has begun seeking support from other European Union and NATO countries in the face of Trump's demands, and she's leveraging his threat of tariffs as a cause for unifying, The New York Times reported.

Go deeper: Greenland must make its own choice on independence, Danish PM tells Trump in call