United States Vice President JD Vance landed in Greenland on Friday for a visit to a military base viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation at a time when President Donald Trump is seeking to annex the strategically placed, resource-rich Danish territory.
Trump argues that the US needs the vast Arctic island for national and international security and has refused to rule out the use of force to get it.
“We have to have it,” the US president reiterated on Wednesday.
The US delegation — which included National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright — landed at the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland at 12:52pm (1552 GMT), according to journalists on board the flight from Washington.
“The president is really interested in Arctic security, as you all know, and it’s only going to get bigger over the coming decades,” Vance said as he arrived at the mess hall of the base. He was also accompanied by his wife Usha, Utah Senator Mike Lee and former homeland security adviser Julia Nesheiwat, who is Waltz’s wife.
They were due to meet US Space Force members and “check out what’s going on with the security” of Greenland, Vance said in a video message this week.
Danish and Greenlandic officials, backed by the European Union, have insisted the US will not get Greenland.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has condemned the US decision to visit the Arctic island uninvited — for what was initially a broader visit to Greenlandic society — as “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland and Denmark.
A majority of Greenlanders oppose US annexation, according to a January poll.
