Vice President JD Vance and other senior Trump administration officials were due to visit a U.S. military base in Greenland on Friday − hundreds of miles away from any Greenlandic officials or a major civilian population.
Vance, his wife, Usha; national security adviser Mike Waltz; and energy secretary Chris Wright were traveling to the the Danish territory as President Donald Trump continues to openly talk about acquiring Greenland.
Friday’s trip is a scaled-back version that was supposed to see the second lady and her son attend cultural events, a dog-sledding race and spend time talking to Greenlanders in the capital Nuuk. The high-powered U.S. delegation revised its itinerary amid a backlash from Greenlandic and Danish officials because of Trump’s repeated comments.
Why did the U.S. change its Greenland plans?
The initial plan called for the second lady to visit the Avannaata Qimussersua, a popular dog-sled race, together with Waltz. But they were not invited by official authorities in either Greenland or Denmark. Officials in both places said the visit appeared like an effort to meddle in the island’s internal politics and rally support for closer U.S. ties.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede called the visit a “provocation,” partly because the territory has not yet formed a new local government after a March 11 election, though a pro-business party that emerged as the winner of the vote was poised to formally announce a coalition Friday, Greenland’s public broadcaster KNR reported.
