By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-28 17:26:20 | Updated at 2025-03-31 11:56:25
2 days ago
US Vice-President J.D. Vance, his wife and other senior US officials visited an American military base in Greenland on Friday in a trip that was scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were irked that the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.
Soon after arriving, Vance briefly addressed US troops stationed at the base as he and his wife sat down to lunch with them, saying that he is “really interested in Arctic security”.
“As you all know, it’s a big issue and it’s only going to get bigger over the coming decades,” said Vance, who was scheduled later to receive briefings from military officials and deliver remarks.
The revised trip to the semi-autonomous Danish territory comes as relations between the US and the Nordic country have soured after US President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested that the United States should in some form control the mineral-rich territory of Denmark – a traditional US ally and Nato member.
Friday’s one-day visit to the US Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, removed the risk of potentially violating diplomatic custom by sending a delegation to another country without an official invitation.
It will also reduce the likelihood that Vance and his wife will cross paths with residents angered by Trump’s announcements.
