U.S. Vice President JD Vance slammed Denmark during his visit to Greenland on Friday, saying it did a good job of keeping its semi-autonomous Danish territory and its people from invasions from China and Russia, while promising to respect Greenland’s sovereignty and demanding it to cooperate with the United States “with the people of the United States.”
Vance said the U.S. does not immediately plan to expand its military presence in Greenland, but will invest in resources including additional naval vessels.
“Denmark did not keep up with the pace and specifically to maintain this base, to maintain the necessary resources of our troops, and believes that the people of Greenland are protected from many very radical invasions from Russia, China and other countries,” Vance said.
He did not provide details of the so-called invasion.
The U.S. vice president said Russia, China and other countries are experiencing “extraordinary interest” in the region’s Arctic access, naval routes and minerals, and the U.S. will invest more resources, including naval ships and military icebreakers, which will have larger operations in the country.
Greenland’s new prime minister said the U.S. visit demonstrated a “lack of respect” and called for solidarity in the face of “external pressure.”
The King of Denmark issued a statement of support on social media. King Frederick said: “We live in a changing reality. There is no doubt that my love for Greenland and my connection with the people of Greenland are intact.”
Vance made a comment during his visit to the U.S. military base in Pituffik, north of the Arctic Island, which introduced a new broad-based coalition of governments in the capital Nuuk, which aims to keep in touch with Denmark.
As U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to take over Greenland, the country’s prime minister called the visit of the U.S. delegation a provocative and highly aggressive. Americans on the trip included National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Vice President’s wife Usha Vance.
Vance greeted members of the U.S. armed forces shortly after his arrival, thanking them for their service on a remote base 1,200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle.
Vance also guarantees that the people of Greenland will have “self-determination” and that the United States will respect its sovereignty.
“We want them to choose to work with the United States because we are the only country on Earth that will respect sovereignty and respect its security because their security is our security,” Vance said.
“We need Greenland”: Trump
With Vance’s visit, U.S. President Donald Trump told White House reporters that the United States needs Greenland to ensure “peace all over the world.”
“It’s very important for us to be Greenland to be internationally secure. We have to have Greenland. It’s not a problem, ‘Do you think we can do without it?’ We can’t,” Trump said.
Trump said Greenland’s waterways were “full of Chinese and Russian ships” and the United States would not rely on Denmark or anyone else to handle the situation.
Denmark and the EU understand why Greenland is important to peace around the world” and if they don’t, we will have to explain it to them.”
The U.S. delegation also included Vance’s wife, U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
The initial plan for the trip was to have Vance’s wife compete on the island with Waltz in a sled dog race, even if they were not invited by authorities in Greenland or Denmark.
Public protests and anger from Greenland and Danish authorities prompted the U.S. delegation to fly only to military bases and not to meet with the public.
Under the terms of the 1951 agreement, the United States has the right to access its base at any time, as long as it notifies Greenland and Copenhagen. Located on the shortest route from Europe to North America, Pituffik is crucial to the US ballistic missile warning system.
The island’s capital is closer to New York than Copenhagen, the Denmark capital, and its mineral, oil and gas wealth is slow but developing slowly, while mining’s U.S. investment is very limited. The mining companies operating in Greenland are mainly Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom.
Greenland has enough rare earth minerals to power the next generation of the U.S. economy, a White House official said.
New afternoon calls for solidarity
Greenland’s new Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen urged political solidarity on Friday.
“When we as a people are under pressure, we have to stand together,” Nelson said in a press conference.
His pro-business Democratic Party was conducive to staying away from Denmark’s independence and became the largest party in the March 11 election.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the initial visit plan to Greenland in an Instagram post “unacceptable”: “I look forward to closing cooperation during unnecessary conflict time.”
Andreas Oesthagen, a senior researcher at the Oslo-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute, said the problem now is Trump’s willingness to push his idea of taking over the island.
“The United States is still unlikely to use military means,” he told Reuters.
“But unfortunately, President Trump and Vice President Vance may continue to use other pressure tools, such as ambiguous statements, semi-official visits to Greenland, and economic tools,” he said.
“We don’t sell”
By revising the trip, the Trump administration is seeking to refocus the discussion on topics of its interest: Catherine Sendak, head of the transatlantic defense and security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said the U.S. presence in Greenland, available military capabilities and wider security in the Arctic.
“Of course, change is needed,” Sendaq told Reuters.
However, some Nuuk residents were angry at the Trump administration before Vance’s visit.
“I am a human. Humans are not going to be sold. We are not going to be sold,” film producer Tungutaq Larsen told Reuters.
Polls show that almost all Greenlanders are opposed to being part of the United States. Anti-American protesters, some wearing “Make America Leave” hats and holding “Yankee Go Home” banners, have hosted some of Greenland’s largest demonstrations ever.
