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Second lady Usha Vance will visit Greenland later this week, the White House announced Sunday, before Vice President JD Vance announced days later that he would be joining his wife on the visit.
National security adviser Mike Waltz was set to make a separate trip this week as the Trump administration continues to eye Greenland. Waltz had been expected to visit the Pituffik Space Base, a source familiar with the plans told CBS News on Sunday. The vice president’s office said after Vance’s announcement on Tuesday that the Vances will travel Friday to the Pituffik Space Base to receive a briefing on Arctic security issues and meet with U.S. service members. The base visit will take place in lieu of the second lady’s attendance at the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut that had previously been announced.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said Monday that the U.S. has a “vested interested in the Arctic region.”
“We also look forward to experiencing Greenland’s famous hospitality and are confident that this visit presents an opportunity to build on partnerships that respects Greenland’s self-determination and advances economic cooperation,” Hughes said. “This is a visit to learn about Greenland, its culture, history, and people and to attend a dogsled race the United States is proud to sponsor, plain and simple.”
The plans were criticized Monday by Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede, who said Washington was interfering in Greenland’s internal affairs, according to the French news agency AFP.
“It should be said clearly that our integrity and democracy must be respected without foreign interference,” AFP quoted Egede as saying, adding that it “cannot be seen as just a private visit.”
The vice president said in a video posted to social media Tuesday that “there was so much excitement around Usha’s visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided that I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I’m going to join her.”
The second lady has already made a number of overseas trips, having visited Paris in February and India earlier this month. The White House said Sunday that Usha Vance would be joined by her son and a U.S. delegation.
President Trump first expressed interest in taking control of Greenland, which is currently a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, during his first administration. He has ramped up the effort since taking office two months ago. In his first speech before a joint session of Congress of his second term, Mr. Trump vowed that “we’re going to get it.”
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“We need Greenland for national security and even international security,” the president said during his address on March 4. “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
Egede responded at the time, saying, “We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken.”
Egede said Mr. Trump was, “very unpredictable, in such a way that people feel insecure.” In an election that was held on March 11 — after Mr. Trump’s speech — Egede’s opposition won, although the party still needs to form a coalition government.
“Greenland needs us to stand together in a time of great interest from outside,” Democratic party leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen told local media, according to BBC News. “There is a need for unity, so we will enter into negotiations with everyone.”
Waltz said in January that the talks about Greenland are “not just about Greenland, this is about the Arctic.”
“You have Russia that is trying to become king of the Arctic with 60 plus icebreakers, some of them nuclear powered,” Waltz said in January. “You know how many we have? We have two and one just caught on fire. This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources.”
Mr. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., visited in January before the president took office. Ahead of his visit, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Greenland is not for sale, but she said she would continue to welcome American interest and investment.