 "Why is US Second Lady Usha Vance visiting Greenland uninvited?")
There’s a famous saying ‘you can catch more bees with honey than with vinegar’ and it seems that the Trump administration is adopting this adage when it comes to its plan to acquire Greenland, the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
On Sunday (March 23), the White House announced that Second Lady Usha Vance will travel to the Danish territory from Thursday (March 27) along with her son and a delegation from the US until March 29 during which she will tour historical sites, learn about the territory’s heritage and attend the national dogsled race.
Vance’s visit, however, has prompted anger in Greenland, with Prime Minister Múte Egede telling Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq it is a “provocation”.
We take a closer look at why Second Lady Usha Vance is travelling to Greenland and how the territory is reacting to this tour.
Usha’s going to Greenland
US Vice President’s wife, Usha Vance , along with one of her sons, Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will travel to Greenland on Thursday, the White House announced over the weekend.
It has been reported that Vance will visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race.” The race features around 37 mushers and 444 dogs and offers what Vance’s office described as a “remarkable display of speed, skill, and teamwork.”
In a video posted on Instagram, the 39-year-old Second Lady said she’s looking forward to visiting Greenland and specifically highlighted her and her child’s excitement to witness the dog sled race, which she said the US helps sponsor.
“I’ve been reading all about it with my children, and I’m amazed by the incredible skill and teamwork that it takes to participate in this race,” she said in the Instagram post. “I’m also coming to celebrate the long history of mutual respect and cooperation between our nations and to express hope that our relationship will only grow stronger in the coming years.”
The White House also said in a statement, “Vance and the delegation are excited to witness this monumental race and celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity.”
Meanwhile, US NSA Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright are expected to tour a US military base in Greenland, said officials.
Trump’s growing call to annex Greenland
One can’t escape the timing of US Second Lady Usha Vance’s Greenland visit. It comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is ramping up his rhetoric on acquiring the territory. Soon after Trump returned to the White House in January, he pushed advisers to find a way to make a Greenland acquisition a reality. It was at this time that the US president also floated the idea of retaking the Panama Canal.
The US president in January even stated that he wouldn’t rule out using military or economic power to get Denmark to hand over the mineral-rich and strategically important island. When asked if he would rule out the use of the military, Trump said to reporters, “I’m not going to commit to that. It might be that you’ll have to do something. We need Greenland for national security purposes.”
Then in March, during his joint address to the US Congress, Trump once again raised the issue of acquiring Greenland, saying, “We need Greenland for national security. One way or the other we’re going to get it.”
He even offered a similar rationale during an Oval Office meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte in March, when he suggested the military alliance may have to aid his effort to annex the territory. ‘We have a lot of our favourite players cruising around the coast, and we have to be careful,” Trump told Rutte. “I think that’s why Nato might be, have to get involved in a way, because we really need Greenland for national security.”
Trump has repeatedly stated that acquiring the strategically located territory in the Arctic is a must for America’s security.
In fact, in January, Trump’s son — Donald Trump Jr —visited Greenland and even said in a podcast, “No, I am not buying Greenland” — although he said he did love it there.
Even Trump’s second in command, JD Vance, agrees with this, telling Fox News in a February interview that an American takeover of the territory could be possible. “How are we going to solve our national security? If that means that we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland, that’s what President Trump is going to do,” Vance said.
Other Trump administration officials have also echoed the need for the US to acquire Greenland with Waltz saying in January that talks about Greenland are “not just about Greenland, this is about the Arctic”.
“You have Russia that is trying to become king of the Arctic with 60 plus icebreakers, some of them nuclear powered,” Waltz said in January. “You know how many we have? We have two and one just caught on fire. This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources.”
Anger over Vance’s Greenland visit
While the White House has presented Vance’s visit as friendly, it seems Greenland and Denmark don’t take it the same way. Greenland’s PM Mute Egede said the trip was a show of force meant to intimidate local leaders.
“We are now at a level where it can in no way be characterised as a harmless visit from a politician’s wife,” Egede told the national newspaper Sermitsiaq on Sunday. “What is the security adviser doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to show a demonstration of power to us, and the signal is not to be misunderstood.”
Even earlier, Greenland’s PM, Mute Egede had responded to Trump’s remarks to Congress, saying, “We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken.”
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also reacted to Vance’s visit, saying, “this is something we take seriously”. She said Denmark wanted to cooperate with the US but it should be cooperation based on “the fundamental rules of sovereignty”.
Polls suggest that a majority of Greenland residents support independence from Denmark but are against being annexed by Washington. She also clarified that neither Denmark nor Greenland had solicited the trips.
It is to be seen if Usha is welcomed or booed in Greenland.
With inputs from agencies
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