President Donald Trump irked much of Europe by suggesting that the United States should in some form control the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of American ally Denmark. As the nautical gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America, Greenland has broader strategic value as both China and Russia also seek access to its waterways and the nearby natural resources.
The vice president's decision to visit a U.S. military base in Greenland has removed the risk of violating potential diplomatic taboos by sending a delegation to another country without an official invite. Yet Vance has also criticized longstanding European allies for relying on military support from the United States, openly antagonizing partners in ways that have generated concerns about America's reliability.
Ahead of the vice president’s announcement that he would join his wife, discontent from the governments of Greenland and Denmark had been growing sharper, with the Greenland government posting on Facebook Monday night that it had “not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish national broadcasts Tuesday that it was “unacceptable pressure.”
The office of second lady Usha Vance said Sunday that she would depart Thursday for Greenland and return Saturday. Vance and one of her three children had planned to visit historic sites and learn about Greenland's culture, but her husband's participation has reoriented the trip around national security.
The vice president said he didn't want to let his wife “have all that fun by herself" and said he plans to visit a Space Force outpost in the northwest coast of Greenland. Vance said that other countries have threatened Greenland as well as the United States and Canada.
Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, was initially listed among the group of U.S. officials also heading to Greenland — but his name was omitted when it was announced that the vice president was now attending.
The White House didn't say Tuesday if Waltz’s travel plans had been altered after it was revealed that he had errantly added a journalist to a secure messaging app conversation about a military strike in Yemen.
Vance said leaders in Denmark and North America had “ignored” Greenland for “far too long.”
The visit to Pituffik Space Base will take place instead of Usha Vance’s previously announced trip to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut.
But Dwayne Ryan Menezes, founder and managing director of the Polar Research & Policy Initiative, said that the Trump administration's “intimidation” of Greenland could backfire.
Menezes said if Trump was “smart enough” to understand Greenland's strategic importance that he should also be "smart enough to know there is no greater way to weaken America’s hand and hurt its long-term interests than turning its back on its allies, the principal asymmetrical advantage it enjoys over its adversaries.”
Despite officials in Greenland and Denmark becoming more vocal in expressing objections, Vance is allowed to visit the space base, said Marc Jacobsen, a professor at the Royal Danish Defense College, because of a 1951 agreement between Denmark and the U.S. regarding the defense of Greenland.
“What is controversial here is all about the timing," he said. “Greenland and Denmark have stated very clearly that they don’t want the US to visit right now, when Greenland doesn’t have a government in place.”
During his first term, Trump floated the idea of purchasing the world's largest island, even as Denmark, a NATO ally, insisted it wasn't for sale. The people of Greenland also have firmly rejected Trump's plans.
Trump's return to the White House has included a desire with territorial expansion, with the U.S. president seeking to add Canada as a 51st state and resume control of the Panama Canal. He has also indicated that U.S. interests could take over the land in the war-torn Gaza Strip from Israel and convert it into a luxury outpost.
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Keyton reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed reporting from Geneva.