Greenland and Denmark appeared cautiously relieved early Wednesday by the news that U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife are changing their itinerary for their visit to Greenland Friday, reducing the likelihood that they will cross paths with residents angered by the Trump administration’s attempts to annex the vast Arctic island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory. The couple will now visit the U.S. Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, instead of Usha Vance’s previously announced solo trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut.
President Donald Trump irked much of Europe by suggesting that the United States should in some form control the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of Denmark, a U.S. ally and NATO member. As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia seek access to its waterways and natural resources. The vice president’s decision to visit a U.S. military base in Greenland has removed the risk of violating potential diplomatic taboos by sending a delegation to another country without an official invitation. Yet Vance has also criticized long-standing European allies for relying on military support from the United States, openly antagonizing partners in ways that have generated concerns about the reliability of the U.S.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told Danish broadcaster DR Wednesday that the Vances’ updated travel plans are a good thing. The minister said the change was a deescalation, even as he said the Americans are treating it as the opposite, with Vance suggesting in an online video that global security is at stake. Anne Merrild, a professor and Arctic expert at Aalborg University in Denmark, said recent anti-U.S. demonstrations in Nuuk might have scared the Trump administration enough to revise the trip to avoid interactions with angry Greenlanders. Still, Merrild said, even a visit to the space base shows that the U.S. administration still considers annexing Greenland to be on the table. “It’s a signal to the whole world, it’s a strong signal to Denmark, it’s a signal to Greenland,” she said. “And of course it’s also an internal signal to the U.S., that this is something that we’re pursuing.”
Vance is allowed to visit the base, said Marc Jacobsen, a professor at the Royal Danish Defense College, because of a 1951 agreement between Denmark and the U.S. regarding the defense of Greenland. “What is controversial here is all about the timing,” he said. “Greenland and Denmark have stated very clearly that they don’t want the U.S. to visit right now, when Greenland doesn’t have a government in place,” following the election earlier this month. Coalition negotiations are ongoing.
Ahead of the vice president’s announcement that he would join his wife, discontent from the governments of Greenland and Denmark had been growing sharper, with the Greenland government posting on Facebook Monday night that it had “not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish national broadcasts Tuesday that the visit was “unacceptable pressure.”
Usha Vance’s office said Sunday that she would depart Thursday for Greenland and return Saturday. She and one of the couple’s three children had planned to visit historic sites and learn about Greenland’s culture, but her husband’s participation has reoriented the trip around national security, her office said. Vance said leaders in Denmark and North America had “ignored” Greenland for “far too long.”
Comment: I guess the Trump administration was smart enough to avoid the possibility of Usha Vance being photographed being surrounded by a sea of angry Greenlandic Inuit wearing those red “Make America Go Away” hats at the dogsled race. But they’re still too pig headed to forgo sending the Vances to Greenland even if it’s just to visit the Space Force outpost at Pituffik, out in the middle of nowhere. If they fly directly to the Space Force Base, they’ll avoid all those Icelandic MAGA hats.
From a strategic point of view, I can understand Trump’s fixation on Greenland. As the Arctic Ocean thaws, the island sits astride a major shipping route between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. I also think the Mercator Projection is fueling Trump’s fascination. What I don’t understand is his fixation on owning Greenland. I guess it’s his aversion to alliances, especially NATO that is driving his need to own Greenland outright. He’d be better off working with NATO on strengthen defenses and surveillance systems astride this increasingly critical sea route rather than doing it alone.
TTG
Just take it. Nothing anyone can do about it. Hold an election, CIA fudges the numbers and call it a day. Done. Flood the place with money, good jobs, cheap goods and in a couple years everyone is happy. It’s time to stop playing games with old western europe. Their days are long long behind them and they got bigger problems.
Flood the place with money, good jobs and cheap goods? You mean everything the people in the existing 50 states are waiting for?
Amen, Stefan.
You picked a civilized picture for the heading. TTG. Here is a more heartfelt one. Vance would definitely have been met with large demonstrations against his visit.
https://asset.dr.dk/drdk/drupal-images/other/2025/03/26/scanpix-20250315-174556-l.jpg
https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/fra-hundeslaedeloeb-med-andendamen-til-militaerbase-med-vicepraesidenten-hvor-meget
The people of Greenland are overwhelmingly in the independence camp so it’s just a question of time. The parties that are most likely to form a new government are in favor of going slow so that Greenland can properly prepare with regards to the economy and educational level of the population. Fx. the police force and food inspection is still handled by Denmark aka Danish civil servants because Greenland do not have the skilled manpower for the tasks. They have the right to take over those functions but have declined for now.
BTW have the US not cut the man power levels at Pituffik Space Base quite significantly since the Cold War ended?
As we have seen in the last few days, Trump is mostly out of the loop, but someone figured out that the optics of Mrs. Vance surrounded by Greenland protesters would not look good on TV. This is, however, an other indication that the onset of Trump Stink has begun and I expect it to spread rather rapidly. I realize that many Republicans will be slow to detect it, but once they do, it will probably be too late for them. It will be around for a generation, or more.
It’s not just Sisimiut. Eyeliner Boy and his anchor-baby wife Usha were scheduled to visit the capitol Nuuk. But before the trip U.S. reps went door-to-door in Nuuk to find some Greenlander families that would like to meet and greet Usha. The answer? None. So that trip was called off also.
What has NATO ever done for the US to justified continuing to fund the bulk of Europe’s defense while they tariff us to no end and try to entangle us in yet another continental war?
Try keeping the peace for 80 years in a place where that is historically absent and keeping any fighting far from our shores. It has also been very good for thousands of well paid US workers and businesses. It also kept the Soviet Union contained until it collapsed and after 9/11, NATO fought along US troops against bin Laden, et al. All this should be obvious unless you have myopia.
Lars,
The USSR collapsed 2 generations ago. We were involved in two wars in Europe precisely because Europeans started them. The first on being the one “he kept us out of war” Wilson got reelected to avoid. They are doing their best to start another and drag us into it. Martin Armstrong estimates September BTW.
Yes lots of bloated bureaucrats got employed and stayed that way, especially in Europe. You fail to mention the cost to our society to rebuild Europe’s and effectively fund their socialism with the tariffs they impose on our good and all the billions spent in their nations by all the troops we ever had, and still do, stationed there. That sure helped Trayvon, Freddie Grey, and the late St. George Floyd and everyone educated in all those inner city schools.
Thanks for your all your years of service, too. In whichever armed force it was.
Political message from Greenland to Trump.
The new government includes four out of five parties in the Inatsisartut. It includes Atassut (pro-Union with Denmark) but excluded Naleraq (fast track independence) which were too US-friendly.
The new government has 23 out of 31 seats in the Inatsisartut.
Why is it called Greenland anyway
mcohen,
Erik the Red dubbed it Greenland in the 10th century as a marketing ploy to draw more settlers to the island.
It worked for a time, as the climate had warmed. But when it started to cool again the Scandinavians left and the eskimoos remained and still do.