JD Vance's wife leads high-profile US team on Greenland visit

24 March 2025, 04:26 | Updated: 24 March 2025, 13:02

A high-profile US delegation will visit Greenland this week as President Donald Trump continues to threaten to annexe the strategic Danish territory.

Usha Vance, wife of vice-president JD Vance, will lead the delegation that includes White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and energy secretary Chris Wright.

Mr Waltz and Mr Wright plan to visit the Pituffik space base, the US military base in Greenland.

The team will also watch a national dogsled race and visit historical sites.

Brian Hughes, spokesperson for the White House national security council, said the US team is "confident that this visit presents an opportunity to build on partnerships that respects Greenland's self-determination and advances economic cooperation".

"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," Mr Hughes added.

Mr Trump has made the US annexation of Greenland a major talking point since taking office on 20 January.

Read more: Do people in Greenland want to be part of the US?

Greenland's strategic location and rich mineral resources would benefit the US. It also lies along the shortest route from Europe to North America, and is vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

The governments of both Greenland and Denmark have voiced opposition to such a move.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede reacted angrily to news of the US visit, saying his nation has tried "all diplomatic and democratic options", but Mr Trump's mission is "to own and control Greenland".

Mr Egede told newspaper Sermitsiaq: "Every minute counts to ensure that the Americans' dream of annexing our country does not become a reality."

He said, "until recently" they could "safely trust" Washington, but "that time is over".

US leadership, he said, is "completely and utterly indifferent to what we have stood together on so far, because now it is only a matter of them taking over our country over our heads".

He told Greenland's international allies that "hiding in a small corner and almost whispering that they support us has no effect".

"If they do not speak out loudly about how the USA is treating Greenland, the situation will escalate day by day, and the American aggression will increase," he added.

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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a written statement reacting to news of the visit that "this is something we take seriously".

She said Denmark wants to cooperate with the US, but it should be cooperation based on "the fundamental rules of sovereignty".

Referring to Ms Vance's upcoming trip, Tom Hoyem, former Danish minister for Greenland, told Sky News it is "politically incorrect and provocative to make such a visit" just as Greenlanders prepare to go to the polls for local elections on 1 April.

He said "Greenland is an open country, of course the lady [Ms Vance] can arrive and she can look at the dogsled run as she would like", but "the timing is really bad and in this way it is a provocation".

Mr Hoyem said there was a need for talks to avoid "unnecessary provocation".

"The kingdom of Denmark with Greenland and the Faroe islands, that's a sovereign kingdom and no one can try and take [it] over," he added.