Vice President JD Vance, left, and second lady Usha Vance pose during a tour of Pituffik Space Base
Vice President JD Vance, left, and second lady Usha Vance pose during a tour of Pituffik Space Base
US VP JD Vance said on Friday that Denmark has "underinvested" in Greenland's security and demanded that Denmark change its approach as president Donald Trump continued to talk of annexing the Danish territory.
The pointed remarks came as Vance visited US troops on Pituffik Space Base on the mineral rich, strategically critical island.
“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance said. “You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change.”
Vance said the Republican administration of Donald Trump is very interested in “Arctic security.”
"We hope that they choose to partner with the United States, because we're the only nation on Earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security,” he added, stressing that Greenland's "security is very much our security".
“As you all know, it's a big issue and it's only going to get bigger over the coming decades,” Vance said at the start of his lunch with troops, noting that he was the first US vice president to visit Greenland.
Vance said the US has “no option” but to take a position to ensure the security of Greenland as he encouraged a push in Greenland for independence from Denmark.
“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” Vance said. “We could make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they'd fare a lot better economically as well.”
When JD Vance was asked about Trump's "have to have Greenland" remark, he said there needs to be more seriousness towards the security of the island.
"We can't just ignore this place. We can't just ignore the President's desires," he added, repeating that Greenland would be much safer and secured under the umbrella of the US than it has been under Denmark since 1721.
Vance was joined by his wife and other senior US officials visiting an American military base in Greenland Friday in a trip that led to an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were irked because the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.
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The Vances stopped by in Greenland for a few hours, with posts flooding social media, in which they were called out for visiting the island where they were not welcome.
The revised trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the US and the Nordic country have soured after Trump repeatedly suggested that the United States should in some form control the mineral-rich territory of Denmark — a US ally and NATO member.
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In Washington, Trump repeated that the US “needs Greenland for international security.”
Speaking to reporters soon after Vance's arrival at the military base, Trump alluded to the rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.
“Greenland's 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're going to have to explain it to them.”
Trump implied the rising Russian and Chinese interest in the island - similar to what the Vice President said.
"We have to have Greenland. It's not a question of: 'Do you think we can do without it?' We can't," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Ahead of Vance's arrival, four of the five parties elected to Greenland's parliament earlier this month signed an agreement to form a new, broad-based coalition government. The parties banded together in the face of Trump's designs on the territory.
“It is a time when we as a population are under pressure,” the prime minister-designate, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said before the accord was signed to applause and cheers in the capital, Nuuk.
He added that “we must stick together. Together we are strongest,” Greenland broadcaster KNR reported.
In a post on Instagram, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen congratulated Nielsen and his incoming government, and said that “I look forward to close cooperation in an unnecessarily conflict-filled time.”
A poll in January showed that a significant majority of Greenlanders are against the idea of annexation by America.
During his first term too, Trump floated the idea of purchasing the world's largest island, even as Denmark insisted it wasn't for sale.