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Greenland politicians have denounced plans for White House officials to travel to the island this week amid President Donald Trump’s demands to annex Greenland into the U.S.
Second Lady Usha Vance is reportedly coming to the island to “celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity,” and to attend Avannaata Qimussersu, the national dogsled race, the White House said. Before Vance’s arrival, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz will visit Pituffik Space Force Base, a U.S. military installation that has been on the island since the end of World War II. Waltz will be accompanied by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Politicians in Greenland — an autonomous nation-territory that is still technically under Denmark’s control, mostly in foreign policy matters — have condemned the visits as a means of intimidating the country in the immediate aftermath of its elections and as negotiations to form a new government are unfolding.
“What is the [U.S.] security advisor doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to show a demonstration of power to us,” outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede said.
Egede added that the trips “cannot be seen as just a private visit,” and that “it should be said clearly that our integrity and democracy must be respected without foreign interference.”
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, leader of the Demokraatit party and the person most likely to become the next prime minister, echoed that sentiment.
“The fact that the Americans are well aware we are in the middle of negotiations once again shows a lack of respect for the Greenlandic people,” Nielsen said.
Trump has made it clear at multiple points during his transition period and since being sworn in as president that he intends to annex Greenland into the U.S. His imperialist agenda also includes re-taking the Panama Canal and incorporating Canada as the 51st state.
“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 said in an announcement of his pick for ambassador to Denmark.
In January, the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., also traveled to Greenland, purportedly to showcase support for annexing the country into the U.S. among the Greenlandic population.
The publicity stunt was later lambasted by local leaders, who said Trump Jr. and his entourage had paid unhoused people to feign enthusiasm for his visit.
“No journalists were allowed to interview him. It was all staged to make it seem like we — the Greenlandic people — were MAGA and love to be a part of the U.S.A.,” said MP Pipaluk Lynge.
A poll commissioned by the Danish newspaper Berlingske and published in the same month as Trump Jr.’s travels to Greenland demonstrates that only 6 percent of Greenlanders want the island to be annexed into the U.S, while 85 percent are opposed to that proposal.
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