Leaders from both Greenland and Denmark have forcefully rebuked a planned visit from US officials. Vice-president JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, was scheduled to visit Greenland on a cultural visit. Now, her blundering husband has announced his intention to accompany her. Mike Waltz, the Trump administration’s national security advisor (who has had to take responsibility for an embarrassing and catastrophic leak just this week), is also due to visit Greenland.
The move has been met with derision from a number of officials – entirely understandable given Donald Trump’s repeated threats to take over the island. Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Bourup Egede, called the planned trips “highly aggressive.” The US has now reportedly ‘scaled back’ some of its plans for the visit – but it is still going ahead.
US: combative relations with Greenland
In an interview with one of Greenland’s national newspapers, Egede said:
Until recently, we could safely trust the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we liked to work closely…But that time is over, we must admit, because the new American leadership is completely and utterly indifferent to what we have stood together on so far, because now it is only a matter of them taking over our country over our heads.
Egede didn’t mince any words as to what’s required next from the international community:
But the fact that our other allies in the international community feel like hiding in a small corner and almost whispering that they support us has no effect, and if they do not speak out loudly about how the USA is treating Greenland, the situation will escalate day by day, and the American aggression will increase.
And, Egede pilloried the addition of JD Vance to Usha Vance’s planned trip:
We are now at a level where it can in no way be characterized as a harmless visit from a politician’s wife, which is a prospect. Because what is the security advisor doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to show a demonstration of power to us, and the signal is not to be misunderstood.
As the Canary has previously reported, Trump’s interest in Greenland is built in the island’s rich reserves of minerals that could be vital in technology production. And, it should not be lost that Greenland has a population made up of 88% indigenous peoples. Trump’s intentions to take over Greenland, including via military efforts, bears the classic hallmarks of colonial expansion.
“Unacceptable pressure”
Denmark, who serve as a caretaker government of Greenland, have also strongly pushed back against Vance’s visit. Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said:
It is clearly not a visit that is about what Greenland needs or what Greenland wants from a visit. Therefore, no matter how we twist it, it is a completely unacceptable pressure on Greenland, the Greenlandic politicians and the Greenlandic population, but it is also on Denmark and thus the kingdom.
Frederiksen also denied US claims that the Vance’s visit could be a private visit, saying:
You cannot make a private visit with official representatives from another country.
In a classic Trumpian lie, the felon-in-chief said:
People from Greenland are asking us to go there.
Immediately, Greenland’s government proved this was a bare-faced lie:
For the record, the Greenlandic government has not issued any invitations for visits, either official or private. The current government is acting as an interim government pending the formation of a new coalition, and we have kindly requested all countries to respect this process.
Blistering against Trump
The leader of the Greenland Democrats, Jens Frederik Nielsen, who could well become the next prime minister of Greenland, urged for calm in the face of pressure:
So let’s cool our nerves and maintain our common goal of showing the outside world that our country is not a commodity, and that we have sovereignty over the country, which must be respected and no one can take it away from us.
Trump couldn’t have faced a stronger rebuke from Greenland and its people. However, in classic Trump fashion he’ll likely ignore the facts and persist in his expansionist strategies. The US evidently won’t be able to diplomatically manoeuvre their way into occupying Greenland, and Trump’s resolve will be tested from a rightfully pissed-off nation that look to resist American advances.
Featured image via the Canary
