Vice President JD Vance told American service members that the Danish government hasn’t adequately protected Greenland and insisted the U.S. must “do more” to counter what he claimed was “Russian and Chinese encroachment” on the strategically important Arctic island, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex.
Speaking at Pituffik Space Base during a short visit alongside his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, Trump National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and other administration officials, Vance accused Copenhagen of having “not kept pace with military spending” and failing to allocate sufficient resources necessary to “keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of very aggressive incursions from Russia, from China and from other nations.”
“Unfortunately, the story of Greenland over the past 20 years when it comes to security is that we’ve under invested in the infrastructure. We’ve under invested in the security architecture, and we’ve under invested in the brave men and women who are doing a very hard job … to keep all of us safe. That has to change now,” he said.
Vance mocked critics who cited Danish forces’ service alongside Americans and other NATO allies during the two-decade-long war in Afghanistan by suggesting that Americans “obviously honor the sacrifice of our Danish friends” there in the same way the French continue to feel gratitude for American troops who fought to liberate that country from Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
“Recognizing that there are important security partnerships in the past does not mean that we can’t have disagreements with allies in the present about how to preserve our shared security for the future, and that’s what this is about — there is no amount of bullying, no amount of obfuscating, no amount of confusing the issue. Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change,” he said.
Vance’s uninvited trip to Greenland, where the U.S. has maintained bases as part of a long alliance with Denmark, is the latest in a series of aggressive displays Trump and his top lieutenants have made with respect to the self-governing island. The president has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. needs to take ownership of the landmass to guarantee America’s security even though Denmark is a NATO member with an obligation to defend the United States as part of the 32-member alliance.
His visit had initially been scheduled to include cultural stops and meetings with native Greenlanders, but the Trump administration could find no one willing to host him and his wife for a photo opportunity.
The vice president also claimed that the United States believes “in the self determination of the population of the people of Greenland” despite the “argument” with the “leadership of Denmark” over Copenhagen’s alleged “underinvestment” in Greenland’s security.
Asked by a reporter if the U.S. intends to increase military presence on Greenland and whether there have been plans drawn up to seize the island by force, Vance said there are “general objectives” in increasing security posture that will “investing in additional military icebreakers, investing in additional naval ships that will have a greater presence in Greenland.”
“The United States must do what I know is in our interest, which is to make sure that Greenland is safe. If Greenland doesn’t have self determination, if the people of Greenland have their future controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, it’s not going to make their lives better off, and most importantly, it’s going to make American and world security much weaker,” he said.
“We need to wake up from a failed 40 year consensus that said that we could ignore the encroachment of powerful countries as they expand to their ambitions. We can’t just bury our head in the sand or in Greenland, bury our head in the snow and pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this very large land mass. We know that they are.”
Pressed further on whether his visit to the U.S. base there was about conveying a message regarding Trump’s desire to acquire the island, Vance said Americans “do have to be more serious about the security of Greenland” and “can’t just ignore the President’s desires.”
“We respect the self determination of the people of Greenland. But my argument again, to them is, I think that you’d be a lot better having coming under the United States Security umbrella than you have been under Denmark security umbrella. Because what Denmark’s security umbrella has meant is, effectively, they’ve passed it all off to brave Americans and hope that we would pick up the tab,” he said.
