Vice President JD Vance and second woman Usha Vance as seen on the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on Feb. 11, 2025.
Ian Langsdon/AFP
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Ian Langsdon/AFP
Vice President JD Vance mentioned on Tuesday that he would be a part of his spouse, second woman Usha Vance, on a visit to Greenland this week after an earlier announcement of her plans for a cultural visit to the Danish territory acquired an icy reception.
The journey comes as President Trump has continued to muse concerning the United States annexing Greenland, a territory managed by Denmark. Greenland and Denmark have each repeatedly emphasised that Greenland is just not on the market.
The Vances will go to U.S. service members on the Pituffik House Base on Friday and obtain a briefing on Arctic safety points, in response to the White Home.
Vance mentioned in a video posted on social media that he wished to “simply take a look at what is going on on with the safety there.”
“Plenty of different nations have threatened Greenland, have threatened to make use of its territories and its waterways to threaten the USA, to threaten Canada, and naturally, to threaten the individuals of Greenland, so we will take a look at how issues are going there,” Vance mentioned.
Properties in Nuuk, Greenland, as seen on March 24, 2025. Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede accused Washington of interfering in its affairs after second woman Usha Vance and different U.S. officers mentioned they’d go to the Danish territory.
Juliette Pavy/AFP
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Juliette Pavy/AFP
The unique itinerary concerned a dogsled race
The renewed consideration on Greenland kicked off on Sunday. Usha Vance introduced that she and one in every of her younger sons would go to Greenland to see cultural and historic websites, and attend the nationwide dogsled race — and the White Home had mentioned that nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz would go to a U.S. navy base on the island.
Usha Vance had acquired “a number of invites” to attend the dogsled race — and the top of a dogsledding affiliation had requested her to wave the flag to open the race, her communications director Nikki Reeves mentioned, citing conversations between the U.S. consulate and occasion organizers.
However different Greenlandic leaders had expressed considerations. The territory’s Prime Minister Mute Egede mentioned in a Fb post that there could be no conferences between U.S. officers and authorities officers in Greenland in the course of the go to.
At a cupboard assembly Monday, Trump rejected the notion that the deliberate visits have been in any approach confrontational.
“That is friendliness, not provocation. We’re coping with lots of people from Greenland that wish to see one thing occur with respect to them being correctly protected and correctly taken care of. They’re calling us. We’re not calling them,” Trump mentioned on Monday.
Vance workplace chides Denmark and previous U.S. leaders for ‘neglect and inaction’
The vp’s workplace mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday that Trump is “rightly altering course” on the safety of Greenland — and criticized Denmark and former U.S. presidents for not paying extra consideration.
“The strategic partnership between the USA and Greenland has lengthy performed a significant function in our nationwide and financial safety. Throughout World Conflict Two, the USA established over a dozen navy bases in Greenland to defend the North Atlantic from Nazi incursion. Throughout the Chilly Conflict, the USA dedicated further assets to Greenland to defend in opposition to Soviet missile assaults,” the assertion mentioned.
“Within the many years since, neglect and inaction from Danish leaders and previous U.S. administrations have introduced our adversaries with the chance to advance their very own priorities in Greenland and the Arctic.”
