Donald Trump’s expansionist dreams have become a hallmark of his second term. The president continues to advocate for the annexation of Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal despite the strong opposition of the involved citizens and their leaders. But a planned delegation of Trump administration officials to Greenland encountered a few bumps as the federal government was forced to change its itinerary following widespread backlash to the visit across the island.
Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz, Energy secretary Chris Wright, and Second Lady Usha Vance were slated to travel this week with the New York Times reporting that Vance was to make a number of cultural stops, including attending a national dogsled race, while Waltz and Wright are expected to visit a U.S. military base. But plans began to shift as Vice-President J.D. Vance announced Tuesday that he would be joining his wife on the trip with plans for the couple to visit members of the U.S. Space Force at its base in Pituffik and to “check out” the territory’s security in lieu of the Second Lady’s other planned stops. Waltz is still expected to take part in the trip despite his recent involvement in a controversial Signal text chain with other Trump officials.
Earlier this week, the outgoing Greenland prime minister Mute Egede blasted the scheduled trip as “highly aggressive” in the Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq, labeling it a clear attempt by the United States to flex its power as Trump threatens to take over the island. “What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us,” Egede said, per CNN. “His mere presence in Greenland will no doubt fuel American belief in Trump’s mission — and the pressure will increase.”
Earlier this month, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who is poised to succeed Egede as prime minister, also rejected Trump’s calls to annex Greenland. “We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders, and we want our own independence in the future,” Nielsen said, per The Guardian. “And we want to build our own country by ourselves.”
The issue has even united the five political parties in Greenland’s parliament with the leaders issuing a joint statement against Greenland becoming part of the United States. “We — all party chairmen — cannot accept the repeated statements on annexation and control of Greenland,” they said. “We, as party chairmen, find this conduct unacceptable to friends and allies in a defense alliance.” Residents of Greenland also appear opposed to the administration’s threats of annexation. A January poll found that 85 percent of Greenlanders are against the island becoming a part of the United States, with only 6 percent of respondents in favor, according to Reuters.
The delegation comes as the vice-president has echoed Trump’s position on Greenland while escalating tensions with Denmark, which controls the territory. In a Fox News interview, Vance accused Denmark of not being a “good ally” and suggested that controlling Greenland was a matter of national security. “So you have to ask yourself: How are we going to solve that problem, solve our own national security?” the vice-president said, per the Associated Press. “If that means that we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland, that is what President Trump is going to do, because he doesn’t care about what the Europeans scream at us.”
In a video announcing his planned travel to Greenland, Vance claimed that countries have threatened the territory and have intentions to use its waterways to harm Canada and the United States. “Unfortunately, leaders in both America and in Denmark, I think, ignored Greenland for far too long. That’s been bad for Greenland and it’s been bad for the security of the entire world.”
Trump’s focus on Greenland dates back to his first term, when he floated the idea of buying the island from Denmark. In January, the president paired his announcement of Ken Howery as his nominee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Denmark with a blunt call for annexation. “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Despite the strong opposition his aims have received, the president has continued to voice an interest in acquiring Greenland, telling reporters in the Oval Office Wednesday, “We’ll go as far as we have to go.”
