US vice president JD Vance to join his wife on trip to Greenland
The Trump administration sees Greenland as a strategic advantage.
US vice president JD Vance said that he is joining his wife on a trip to Greenland, suggesting in an online video that global security is at stake.
“We’re going to check out how things are going there,” Mr Vance said in a video posted to social media.
“Speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world.”
US President Donald Trump irked much of Europe by suggesting that his country should in some form control the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of American ally Denmark.
As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia also seek access to its waterways and the nearby natural resources.
The office of second lady Usha Vance said on Sunday that she would depart on Thursday for Greenland and return on Saturday. Ms Vance and one of her three children are set to visit historic sites and learn about Greenland’s culture.
The US vice president said he did not want to let his wife “have all that fun by herself” and said he plans to visit a Space Force outpost in the north-west coast of Greenland.
Mr Vance said that other countries have threatened Greenland as well as the United States and Canada.
Ahead of the US vice president’s announcement that he would join his wife, discontent from the governments of Greenland and Denmark had been growing sharper, with the Greenland government posting on Facebook on Monday night that it had “not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official”.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, told Danish national broadcasts on Tuesday that “it was “unacceptable pressure”.
Still, Mr Vance is allowed to visit the space base, said Marc Jacobsen, a professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, because of a 1951 agreement between Denmark and the US regarding the defence of Greenland.
“What is controversial here is all about the timing,” he said. “Greenland and Denmark have stated very clearly that they don’t want the US to visit right now, when Greenland doesn’t have a government in place.”
Mr Vance said that leaders in Denmark and North America had “ignored” Greenland for “far too long”.
During his first term, Mr Trump floated the idea of purchasing the world’s largest island, even as Denmark, a Nato ally, insisted it was not for sale.
The people of Greenland also have firmly rejected Mr Trump’s plans.
