Vice President JD Vance landed in Greenland on Friday afternoon, pushed out by the Trump administration as part of a controversy that angered the Greenlanders.
Vance toured a remote US military base and informed reporters that the US had “woke” to the island's Chinese and Russian designs.
“You can't bury your head in the sand,” he said.
President Trump has insisted that the United States will take over an ice-bound island that is Danish semi-autonomous territory and has been linked to Denmark for over 300 years. Trump has been sticking with Greenland since his first term and recently vowed to “get it – in some way.”
Vance gained a softer tone, saying that the US would not need to respect Greenland's right to self-determination and use military force that Trump refused to rule out.
However, Greenlander resisted the overture. The Greenland government did not invite Mr Vance from his group, including his wife Usha, national security adviser and energy secretary, or others from his group. The protest was planned in the capital, Nuuk. There, Vance was originally scheduled to visit, and that part of the trip was discarded a few days ago.
Instead, the entire visit was reduced to about three hours with the possibility of a Pituffik space base, a missile defense station far from town, or an embarrassing television moment.
The White House's original plan was to bring the US and Greenland closer by Vance attending a well-known dog sled race this weekend and seeing other cultural locations.
The plan backfired. Protesters were preparing to line up roads from the airport to town. The Greenland government has denounced the visit as “very aggressive.” Even the organizers of the dog sled race said they never asked Vance to attend in the first place.
Vance's spokesman disputed it by saying he received “multiple invitations.”
As Vance sat down for lunch at the base, Mr. Vance made colorful remarks about how cold it was, urging laughter by saying, “No one told me.”
National Security Advisor Michael Waltz made several remarks, but said nothing about the fierce criticism he faces to discuss the military plans surrounding the group's messaging app, including journalists.
Foreign policy analysts said the revised trip was a boning version of what the White House really wanted.
“It's a tactical hideaway,” said Lars Trier Morgensen, a Copenhagen-based political analyst. “On the other hand, they were escalated by skipping PR stunts without carrying out their full cultural mission. On the other hand, it's a symbolic escalation that the best officials are visiting Greenland.”
Foreign policy experts say Vance is the oldest employee to visit the island.
Greenland's size – The world's largest island and its North American location along the increasingly contested North America seems to be the root of Trump's charm. His inner circle, including Vance, also talk about Greenland's “incredible natural resources” (most of them are buried under the ice).
Just this week, Trump once again argued that Greenland is essential to America's security, saying, “We need it. We need to have it.”
Greenland is steadily moving away from Denmark, with the island gaining more power over its own issues, and Greenlander has shown more interest in independence. Within Greenland there was a significant move within Greenland that wanted to form a closer alliance with the United States, which had stationed troops on the island since World War II.
But mood was against Trump, and many ordinary Greenlanders didn't want Vance to come at all.
“I don't know what he wants,” said Tuparnak Kansen, a woman walking through Nuuk on Friday. “He's not welcome.”
Shortly before Vance arrived, Greenland announced its new government. The island held its election a few weeks ago, but no party won a majority.
The new government will be a coalition of the Narerak Party, the major political parties on all but one island, with the closest ties to Trump. One of the party's prominent members was open about his support for Trump and attended the president's inauguration.
Politicians from the ruling coalition downplayed the importance of exclusion of the Narerak Party, citing other reasons why they were unable to work with its members.
However, the members of Narelak, who came second during the election, did not buy it.
“I think our party is misunderstood,” said Quapanuk Olsen, a well-known social media influencer who was selected for Narelak tickets.
“Accepting cooperation with the US is interpreted as being sucked into them,” she said. “But it's really about openness to business and trade. Trump has been president for just four more years. We have to think about 10, 20 years ahead. We can't completely shut out the US.”
