JD Vance’s go to to Greenland comes amid US President Trump saying he needs to take over the Arctic territory.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has accused america of exerting “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland prematurely of a provocative high-level go to to the Arctic territory led by US Vice President JD Vance.
Vance, who has grow to be the assault canine of the administration of US President Donald Trump’s overseas coverage, will journey together with his spouse, Usha, and different senior officers to the US’s Pituffik Area Base in Greenland on Friday, “to obtain a briefing on Arctic safety points and meet with US servicemembers”, his workplace stated in an announcement.
“I’ve to say that it’s unacceptable strain being positioned on Greenland and Denmark on this state of affairs. And it’s strain that we’ll resist,” Frederiksen instructed Danish broadcasters DR and TV2 on Tuesday.
“That is clearly not a go to that’s about what Greenland wants or needs,” Frederiksen stated of Washington’s give attention to the Danish autonomous abroad territory.
“President Trump is critical. He wants Greenland. Due to this fact, [this visit] can’t be seen independently of anything,” she stated.
Greenland’s performing head of presidency, Mute Egede, has labelled the uninvited go to by US officers a “provocation”, because it coincided with authorities coalition talks within the territory and municipal elections scheduled for the next week.
The outgoing Greenlandic authorities posted on Fb that it had not “prolonged any invites for any visits, neither personal nor official”.
“The current authorities is a caretaker authorities awaiting the formation of a brand new authorities coalition and we’ve kindly requested all nations to respect this course of,” it wrote.
— Greenland in USA&CDA🇬🇱 (@GreenlandRepDC) March 24, 2025
Since returning to energy in January, Trump has insisted he wants to take over Greenland for nationwide safety functions, refusing to rule out using navy pressure to take action.
“We’re going to take a look at how issues are going there,” Vance stated of his Greenland go to in a video shared on social media on Tuesday.
“Talking for President Trump, we wish to reinvigorate the safety of the folks of Greenland as a result of we predict it’s essential to defending the safety of the whole world,” he stated.
Together with Vance and his spouse, the go to to the US navy base in Greenland will embrace White Home Nationwide Safety Adviser Mike Waltz and US Secretary of Power Chris Wright. By visiting the bottom, Vance has eliminated among the threat of violating potential diplomatic taboos by sending a delegation to a different nation with out an official invite.
Vance has already alienated among the US’s longstanding European allies, publicly accusing them of counting on US navy help and being unwilling to dedicate their very own sources to worldwide safety.
Denmark and different European nations have additionally bristled at Trump’s suggestion that the US ought to take over Greenland – a mineral-rich territory and nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.
Greenland has broader strategic worth for the US as each China and Russia are additionally in search of entry to its waterways and the close by pure sources within the Arctic.
“This can be a attraction offensive with out the attraction,” Noa Redington, an analyst and former adviser to earlier Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, instructed the Reuters information company.
“And everyone seems to be upset as a result of it’s so apparent that that is about intimidating the Greenlandic folks and scary Denmark,” he stated.
