(NewsNation) — Vice President JD Vance, his wife Usha and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz arrived in Greenland on Friday, kicking off a controversial trip to the self-governing Danish territory.
Vance took the opportunity to slam Danish leaders for their treatment of Greenland during the visit.
In remarks while visiting a U.S. military base, the vice president also said Denmark has “underinvested” in the island’s security and demanded changes to the situation.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple,” Vance said. “You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.”
What started off as a three-day cultural visit is now a one-day stop. The brief trip to the Space Force’s Pituffik Space Base comes as President Donald Trump continues to push for the U.S. to annex the mineral-rich island.
Speaking from the White House on Friday, Trump doubled down on his push to take Greenland.
“And right now you look at it, you have warships all over the place going through right along Greenland,” Trump said without giving specifics. “We cannot let that happen — or if it’s going to happen, we have to be protective of our country and more protection not only of our country but the world. Greenland is very important.”
Soon after arriving, Vance briefly addressed U.S. troops stationed at the base as he and his wife sat down to lunch with them, saying that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is very interested in “Arctic security.” He and his entourage, including national security adviser Mike Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, then received briefings from military officials.
Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede said the U.S. delegation’s visit was planned without “any invitations” or input from the territory.
JD Vance has supported the idea of America owning Greenland and is aligned with Trump’s vow to “go as far as we have to go” to obtain the island for national security purposes.
Carla Sands, the former ambassador to Denmark and Greenland under Trump’s first term, told NewsNation that the U.S. acquisition of Greenland is “necessary for the security of the United States” and its allies in Europe.
This delegation has gotten pushback from officials in Greenland, Denmark and the U.S.
Egede criticized the trip before JD Vance announced his participation, calling the U.S. delegation’s visit “very aggressive.”
“The only purpose is to show a show of power to us, and the signal is not to be misunderstood,” Egede told the Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq on Sunday.
That’s a sentiment Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen echoed Tuesday. Frederiksen accused the U.S. of placing “unacceptable pressure” on both Greenland and Denmark.
“It’s depressing to me to watch the way the Trump administration talks about our allies, so I am frustrated by it,” former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford, who served under former President Obama, said on “NewsNation Now.”
Even Russia has weighed in. The U.S. rival has said it will put more military personnel in the Arctic to defend its interests in the region, President Vladimir Putin said at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk on Thursday.
Denmark’s TV 2 reported Wednesday that U.S. representatives couldn’t find anyone on the island interested in welcoming second lady Usha Vance for a visit. After allegedly knocking on doors across the capital, the trip’s itinerary was shortened.
The White House team called the story “categorically false,” according to New Republic reporting.