The controversies surrounding Usha Vance, the wife of the U.S. Vice President, who announced her trip to Greenland, paled when J.D. Vance himself declared he will join the American delegation on the island. The group includes none other than National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The tour is scheduled for Friday, March 28.
Vance explained his presence by stating, “We are going there to see how things are,” because “protecting Greenland means protecting the entire world.” The White House however, later announced that the Vice President would visit “only” the U.S. space base in Pituffik.
Usha Vance had previously announced a separate “cultural” visit from Waltz’s delegation. It now appears the couple will ultimately visit the military base together for a security briefing in the Arctic and to meet U.S. armed forces stationed there.
Once known as Thule Air Base, the U.S.-run Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland is one of the most strategically important military sites in the world — though most Americans have never heard of it. “It is quite literally the outermost eye of American defense,” Danish military analyst Peter Ernstved Rasmussen told The New York Times.. “Pituffik is where the U.S. can detect a launch, calculate the trajectory and activate its missile defense systems. It’s irreplaceable.”
The White House had claimed the U.S. delegation’s visit to Greenland was at the invitation of local authorities, but the Greenlandic government has denied this. Outgoing Prime Minister Múte Egede called the visit “a highly aggressive provocation,” while Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the nationalist winner of Greenland’s recent elections, labeled it “a sign of disrespect toward the Greenlandic people.”
The visit was also poorly received by Denmark. Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory, and Copenhagen has for months opposed the growing pressure from the Trump administration for the annexation of the vast island by the United States for national security reasons. Exploiting its oil potential might also be a factor.
Trump’s son, Donald Jr., had already visited Greenland on January 7, unleashing a storm of controversy.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen welcomed Washington’s decision to limit Vance’s visit to the American air base. “I think it is very positive that the Americans have canceled their visit to Greenlandic territory. They will visit only their base, Pituffik, and we have no objection to that,” Rasmussen told the public broadcaster DR.
