Vance visits Greenland as Trump presses for US takeover of the island

The US vice president, JD Vance, said Friday that Denmark has “ininvited” in the security of Greenland and demanded that Denmark change his approach as President Donald Trump continues to speak of taking care of the Danish territory.

The pointed comments occurred when Vance visited the US troops at the base of the Pituffik space on the strategically critical island rich in minerals.

“Our message to Denmark is very simple: the people of Greenland have not done a good job,” said Vance.

“You have flooded in the people of Greenland, and you have invested in the security architecture of this incredible and beautiful land mass full of incredible people. That has to change.”

Vance said that the United States “has no option”, but to take a significant position to guarantee the security of Greenland, since he encouraged an impulse in Greenland for the independence of Denmark.

“I think they will finally be associated with the United States,” Vance said.

“We could make them much safer. We could have much more protection. And I think it would be much better economically too.”

Vance joined his wife and other senior US officials for the visit to the American military base on a trip that was reduced after a uproar between the Groundla and the Danes who were bothered because the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.

Shortly after arriving, Vance briefly went to the US troops parked at the base when he and his wife sat down to have lunch with them, saying that the Republican administration of US President Donald Trump is very interested in “Arctic Security.”

He and his entourage, including national security advisor Mike Waltz, energy secretary Chris Wright and Senator Mike Lee from Utah, then received reports from military officers.

The journey reviewed to the semi -autonomous Danish territory occurs when relations between the United States and the Nordic country, a traditional member of the United States and NATO member, have been grated.

Trump had repeatedly suggested that the United States should control the island in some way.

During his comments at the end of the brief visit, Vance stressed that he did not believe that military force was necessary by pressing the idea of ​​a dramatically improved American position on the island.

“Because we believe that the people of Greenland are rational and good, we believe we will have to reduce an agreement, Donald Trump’s style, to guarantee the security of this territory but also from the United States of America,” Vance said.

In Washington, Trump said Friday that the United States “needs Greenland for international security.

Trump, speaking with journalists shortly after Vance’s arrival, alluded to the growing Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have been opened due to climate change.

“Greenland is very important for the peace of the world,” Trump said.

“And I think Denmark understands, and I think the European Union understands it. And if they don’t, we will have to explain it.”

Vance has not moved away from impolitic exchanges with global leaders during the early state of the second term of Trump’s White House, in which the Republican leader has promised to drastically shake the United States approach in the world scenario.

On his first trip abroad last month, Vance used a visit to an artificial intelligence summit in Paris to deliver an unmistakable message: the United States has space for you on the Trump train, but you also have no problem leaving it behind.

Days later at the Munich Security Conference, Vance gave European officials about freedom of expression and illegal migration in the continent.

At the end of last month, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was touched to be insufficiently grateful to the United States for his help since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

That disastrous Oval office meeting led Trump to briefly cut military aid and intelligence exchange with Kyiv.

The visit of Friday to the Advanced Post of the US space force. UU. In Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, it eliminated the risk of potentially violating diplomatic custom by sending a delegation to another country without an official invitation. He also reduced the probability that Vance and his wife cross the residents angry at Trump’s ads.

It was less than 19 degrees C when the delegation landed to the sunny skies in the remote base at 1200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. “It’s cold as S … here. No one told me,” Vance said, causing laughter.

Before the arrival of Vance, four of the five games chosen for the Parliament of Greenland at the beginning of this month signed an agreement to form a new broad -based coalition government. The parties joined in front of Trump’s designs in the territory.

“It is a time when we, as a population, are under pressure,” said Jens-Frederik Nielsen, designated by Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, before the agreement to applaud and cheers in the capital, Nuuk, was signed.

He added that “we must stay together. Together we are stronger,” said Greenland Knr’s station.

In an Instagram publication, Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, congratulated Nielsen and his incoming government, and said: “I hope to have close cooperation at a time unnecessarily full of conflicts.”

Frederiksen said on Tuesday that the visit of the United States, which was originally established for three days, created “unacceptable pressure.” She has said that Denmark wants to work with the United States in defense and security, but Greenland belongs to the Greenlandés.

Initially, Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, had announced a solo journey to the dog’s career of Qimussersu in Sisimiut. The vice president later said that he would join her on that trip, just to change that itinerary again, after the protests of Greenland and Denmark, to a visit of one day to the military post only.

The inhabitants of Nuuk, which is about 1500 kilometers south of Pituffik, expressed concern about Vance’s visit and the interest of the United States on their island.

Cora Høy, 22, said that Vance was “welcome if he wants to see him, but of course Groenland is not for sale.” He added that “it is not normal here” with all the attention that Greenland receives. “I feel that now every day it’s about (Trump) and I just want to get away from him.”

“Everything is a little crazy. Of course, the population here is a little shake,” said Inuk Kristensen, 30. “My opinion is the same as everyone’s: of course you don’t do things this way. You don’t come here and you say you want to buy the place.”

As the nautical entrance door to the Arctic and Atlantic of northern North America, Greenland has a broader strategic value since both China and Russia seek access to their river paths and natural resources.

“We need to make sure that the United States leads in the Arctic, because we know that if the United States does not, other nations will fill the void where we are left behind,” Vance said.