JD Vance to join wife on Greenland trip as US pressure builds
Vice President JD Vance will travel to Greenland this week, joining his wife on a visit to the massive island President Donald Trump wants the United States to own.
Trump has unnerved Greenland's leaders by offering to purchase it from Denmark − without ruling out military action or economic coercion.
Vance announced his visit on X on Tuesday afternoon, elevating a trip that his wife, Usha Vance, was scheduled to headline, but that Greenland's leaders characterized as an uninvited trip meant to intimidate them.
Denmark's foreign minister on Wednesday addressed changes to the Vances' schedule.
"I think it's very positive the Americans canceled their visit to the Greenlandic society. Instead, they will visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that," Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told broadcaster DR.
Vance's pitch: 'A different direction'
"There was so much excitement around Usha's visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided I didn't want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I'm going to join her," Vance said in a video announcement.
"I'm going to join some of our guardians in the Space Force on the northwest coast of Greenland and also just check on what's going on with the security there," Vance added.
Vance said leaders in the United States and Denmark have ignored Greenland "for far too long." "We think we can take things in a different direction, so I'm going to go check it out," he said.
Sled dogs and minerals
The second lady was scheduled to arrive Thursday with one of their sons and a U.S. delegation to attend cultural events including a dogsled race. They are scheduled to leave Saturday. The Vice President's office said the couple would no longer attend the dogsled race.
The Arctic territory is rich in untapped minerals and is strategically located for U.S. military interests. National security adviser Mike Waltz, who is currently at the center of a national security breach scandal, has been scheduled to visit a U.S. military base in Greenland alongside Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
The government of Greenland distanced itself from the visit in a post on Facebook late Monday, saying, "Just for the record, Naalakkersuisut, the government of Greenland, has not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official."
"We are now at a level where this cannot in any way be characterized as a harmless visit from a politician’s wife," outgoing Prime Minister Múte B. Egede said Monday. "The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us."
Contributing: Joey Garrison and Reuters.