US Vice President JD Vance, accompanied by his wife Usha and President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz, made a brief but controversial visit to the US Pituffik Space Base in Greenland.
The trip, intended to garner support for Trump’s continuing vying to buy Greenland and make it another US state, has reignited a diplomatic spat and heightened concerns among Greenlanders about their sovereignty.
Speaking to troops at the base, Vance reassured that military force would not be necessary to expand US influence in Greenland. Instead, he argued that locals would willingly choose alignment with the United States over Denmark, which he accused of failing the island’s people. ‘Denmark has not done a good job for the people of Greenland, and the US needs to step in,’ Vance declared. He also pointed to the growing presence of Russia and China in the Arctic, warning that the world cannot ‘bury our heads in the sand – or, in this case, the snow.’
‘Lack of respect for respected ally’, according to danish PM
Vance’s stopover caused something of a diplomatic spat with Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, criticising the lack of an official invitation. Nielsen told reporters the visit showed ‘a lack of respect for an ally’, while Frederiksen refuted Vance’s claims about Denmark’s security efforts. ‘For many years, we have stood side by side with the Americans in all difficult situations,’ she said with Denmark’s increased defence investments, including new Arctic ships and surveillance capabilities. Frederiksen accused the US of putting ‘unacceptable pressure’ on Greenland, and she has vowed to resist.
Locals in Greenland also expressed some unease about the visit. Karl-Peter, a resident of the capital Nuuk, voiced fears to the BBC about Trump ‘trying to control the country’. Qupanuk Olsen, a politician from Greenland’s pro-independence Naleraq party, echoed his concerns, referencing Donald Trump Jr’s January visit. ‘We’re afraid of being colonised again,’ she said. ‘We’ve been a colony under Denmark for 300 years, and it still feels like it. Now another coloniser is eyeing us.’
JD Vance visit may indicate for closer ties with Greenland
Despite the backlash, there have been suggestions from some corners of government that Greenland might need to consider closer US ties as part of a sustainable independence and defence strategy. Meanwhile, the Danish PM highlighted Greenland’s place in NATO and called for a more cooperative approach to Arctic security based on ‘international rules’.
Polls show 85 per cent of Greenlanders oppose becoming part of the US, highlighting that training a 51st state in the Arctic won’t be a walk in the park.
