A boat rides though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) ** FILE **
A boat rides though a frozen sea inlet outside of Nuuk, Greenland, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) ** FILE **
Denmark’s foreign minister said Wednesday he is happy that Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife will visit the U.S. air base in Greenland in place of second lady Usha Vance’s planned attendance at a national dogsled race.
Denmark said the visit to an event of cultural importance in Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, placed unacceptable pressure on the Arctic island as President Trump muses about annexing it into the U.S.
“I actually think it’s very positive that the Americans are canceling their visit to Greenlandic society. Instead, they will visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Danish public radio, DR.
Mrs. Vance originally was scheduled to attend the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut this week.
Instead, the White House said Tuesday that the Vances would visit Pituffik Space Base to receive a briefing on Arctic security issues and meet with U.S. service members.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz also is scheduled to visit the base this week, despite being embroiled in a sudden probe of how a reporter from The Atlantic was included in a Signal text group about plans for military strikes against the Houthis in the Middle East. The group included Mr. Waltz and other high-ranking U.S. officials.
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“The short of it [is] there will be no visit from the U.S. vice president’s wife and their security adviser to the Greenlandic community,” Mr. Rasmussen said Wednesday.
Denmark is upset over Mr. Trump’s fixation on Greenland as an island of strategic importance, as rivals like Russia and China install a presence in the Arctic.
Mr. Trump is openly talking about absorbing the island. His son, Donald Trump Jr., and supporters have visited Greenland in recent weeks.
Mr. Vance’s office said Tuesday that Denmark had not been a good steward of its territory.
“Neglect and inaction from Danish leaders and past U.S. administrations have presented our adversaries with the opportunity to advance their own priorities in Greenland and the Arctic,” the vice president’s office said in a written statement. “President Trump is rightly changing course.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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