Vice President JD Vance says he’s visiting Greenland
Vice President JD Vance announced via social media that he’ll be joining his wife in Greenland to the dismay of Greenland officials.
Vice President JD Vance and other senior Trump administration officials were due to visit a U.S. military base in Greenland on Friday − hundreds of miles away from any Greenlandic officials or a major civilian population.
Vance, his wife, Usha; national security adviser Mike Waltz; and energy secretary Chris Wright were traveling to the the Danish territory as President Donald Trump continues to openly talk about acquiring Greenland.
The visit has raised eyebrows.
Friday’s trip is a scaled-back version that was supposed to see the second lady and her son attend cultural events, a dog-sledding race and spend time talking to Greenlanders in the capital Nuuk. The high-powered U.S. delegation revised its itinerary amid a backlash from Greenlandic and Danish officials because of Trump’s repeated comments.
Here’s what you need to know about the scrambled trip and what threatened to be a frosty reception.
Why did the U.S. change its Greenland plans?
The initial plan called for the second lady to visit the Avannaata Qimussersua, a popular dog-sled race, together with Waltz. But they were not invited by official authorities in either Greenland or Denmark. Officials in both places said the visit appeared like an effort to meddle in the island’s internal politics and rally support for closer U.S. ties.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede called the visit a “provocation,” partly because the territory has not yet formed a new local government after a March 11 election, though a pro-business party that emerged as the winner of the vote was poised to formally announce a coalition Friday, Greenland’s public broadcaster KNR reported.
What will the Vances do in Greenland now?
The American delegation was expected to fly directly to the U.S. Space Force base at Pituffik in the remote northern part of the Arctic island, about 750 miles away from the North Pole. While there, they will receive a briefing on security issues and meet with U.S. service members. It’s unclear if one of the Vances’ sons will still travel with them.
Pituffik Space Base has about 650 personnel. This includes U.S. Air Force and Space Force members, as well as Canadian, Danish and Greenlandic civilian contractors.
Some Greenlandic and Danish media reports suggested that one of the reasons why the White House downgraded the trip to a single day was because they had a hard time finding locals willing to greet the second lady. One travel agency based in Nuuk said it rescinded its offer to receive the second lady after initially saying it would.
“After closer consideration,” the travel agency based in Nuuk said in a Facebook post, “we have now informed the (U.S.) consulate that we do not want her visit, as we cannot accept the underlying agenda and will not be part of the press show that of course, comes with it.” The firm added: “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”
There were also protests planned at the dog-sledding race, according to Martin Breum, a Danish journalist and author who specializes in Greenland and Arctic affairs and is currently in Nuuk. He said protesters intended to turn their backs at the second lady at the event Saturday in Sisimiut, Greenland’s second-largest city.
Why does Trump want to control Greenland?
A longstanding defense agreement between the U.S. and Denmark gave the U.S. the right to construct military bases in Greenland and move around the island freely, provided Denmark and Greenland are notified.
But Trump says − and Denmark rejects − the U.S. needs to exert more control over the territory so it can expand a ballistic missile warning system capable of shooting down missiles from American adversaries.
Greenland also boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth. There are mining companies operating in Greenland. They are mostly Australian, Canadian or British. The White House wants more U.S. companies to operate in Greenland so they can provide the U.S. with so-called rare earth minerals used in the production of cellphones, electric vehicles and other technology and defense systems. The U.S. currently gets most of its rare earths from China.
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