Denmark Uninvited guests: J.D. Vance comes to Greenland with his wife
US Vice President J.D. Vance wants to accompany his wife Usha on a controversial trip to Greenland. "The excitement around Usha's visit to Greenland this Friday was so great - that's why I decided I didn't want her to have all the fun alone," said President Donald Trump's deputy in a video on the X platform. So he will be traveling to the island together with his wife.
26.03.2025, 13:00
SDA
Usha Vance's travel plans had recently made headlines. According to official information, she had originally planned to visit historical sites, learn more about Greenland's heritage and attend a traditional dog sled race with her son and companions from Thursday to Saturday.
The trip is controversial because Trump has reasserted his claim to control Greenland in his second term and has repeated his desire to make the island a US territory in recent months. Trump justifies this either on the grounds of national or international security. Against this backdrop, his son Donald Jr. had already traveled to Nuuk for a day at the beginning of January - which also caused a stir.
According to media reports, Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright were also part of the delegation this time. Nevertheless, there was talk of a private trip - something that was not bought by the Americans either in Greenland or in Denmark.
Military base instead of dog sled races
Now the travel plans have changed significantly: According to the White House, the visit to the dog sled race in the town of Sisimiut has been canceled, as have other items on the agenda in the capital Nuuk, according to the caretaker Greenlandic government. The Greenlandic newspaper "Sermitsiaq" and the Danish radio station DR have already observed at the airport in Nuuk how the Americans, among other things, sent bulletproof vehicles back home that had previously been flown in for the upcoming visit.
Instead, the Vances now want to travel together on Friday to the US military base Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air Base and located in the completely remote northwest of Greenland. This means that they will probably have no direct contact with the Greenlandic population - and thus also avoid any new demonstrations announced against the US action.
Simply buying the largest island in the world?
Greenland is the largest island in the world. It is geographically located on the North American continent, but belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark. In terms of area, Greenland is six times the size of Germany, but has just under 57,000 inhabitants, which is roughly comparable to a medium-sized German city such as Baden-Baden or Frankfurt an der Oder. The island is of great importance for the global climate and for military control of the Arctic, and is also rich in raw materials such as rare earths. Important shipping routes also run through the region.
Trump has had his eye on Greenland for a long time. During his first term in office (2017 to 2021), he suggested that the USA could simply buy the island - a proposal that was firmly rejected by both Greenlandic and Danish officials.
Guests without invitation
Donald Trump recently claimed that Usha Vance's planned trip was by invitation. However, Greenland's caretaker government made it clear that it had not invited anyone - neither for a private nor an official visit. Greenlandic politics has other things to do at the moment anyway: After the parliamentary elections on March 11, they are in the process of forming a new government. Local elections will also be held on the island on April 1.
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also complained that Usha Vance's visit was obviously not about what Greenland needs or wants. Frederiksen spoke of unacceptable pressure being exerted on Greenland and Denmark. Nato partner Denmark points out that the citizens of the largely autonomous island can decide for themselves about their future and their possible independence from the Danish kingdom.
Affront followed by a sigh of relief
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was ultimately able to take something positive from the now changed American travel plans. "I actually find it very positive that the Americans are canceling their visit to the Greenlandic community," he said on Danish radio this morning. There was no objection to them visiting their own base in Pituffik instead.
Greenland has a similar view. He expects that many Greenlanders will breathe a sigh of relief that the US visit will only go to Pituffik and not to Nuuk and Sisimiut, "Sermitsiaq" editor-in-chief Masaana Egede told the DR. Nonetheless, people are still irritated by the visit. "I believe that many people still see him as a provocation," he said.
What's more, J.D. Vance, the highest-ranking Trump representative to date, will land on the island on Friday. He announced that he wanted to meet representatives of the US Space Force during the visit and "take a look at the security situation in Greenland". Many other countries have threatened Greenland - and also threatened to use its territories and waterways to take action against the USA and Canada. "So we will check how things are going there," he added. Politicians in the US and Denmark have ignored Greenland for far too long, he lamented.
