US commander of Greenland base removed after distancing from Vance's speech

The Donald Trump administration has removed the commander of US military base at Greenland days after US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the island.

Last month, Vance visited the US Space Force’s Pituffik base in Greenland with his wife Usha and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. He berated Denmark in a speech and doubled down on repeated President Donald Trump’s call for the annexation of the island.

Days after the visit, Colonel Susan Meyers, the commander of the Pituffik Space Base, sent out an email in which she distanced the military from Vance’s political speech and said that everyone on the base irrespective of their nationality will continue to serve proudly on the base. Besides US personnel, contractors from Greenland, Denmark, and Canada also live and work at the base.

Apparently, the Trump administration has taken the email as a sign of rejection of civilian control of military and insubordination and has removed Meyers from command. Formally, however, no reason has cited for the removal.

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Sharing a press release announcing the removal, Chief Defense Department Spokesperson Sean Pernell said, “Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump’s agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense.”

The press release said that Meyers was removed for “loss of confidence in her ability to lead” — a standard phrase used by Defense Department when firing commanders in opaque manner.

In an apparent reference to Meyers’ lack of endorsement of Vance’s speech, the press release said, “Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining non-partisan in the performance of their duties.”

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In her email to personnel at the base two days after Vance’s visit, Meyers sought to instil unity among all those serving there irrespective of nationalities. She said that “spent the weekend thinking about Friday’s visit — the actions taken, the words spoken, and how it must have affected each of you”, according to excerpts published by Military.com.

“I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the US administration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base. I commit that, for as long as I am lucky enough to lead this base, all of our flags will fly proudly — together,” read Meyers’ email.

In his speech during the visit, Vance had berated Denmark for not doing enough to safeguard Greenland.

Vance said, “Our message to Denmark is very simple. You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security of this incredible, beautiful landmass.”

Vance further said that Greenland had to come under US occupation to fulfill Trump’s “desires” that he said could not be ignored.

“The president said we have to have Greenland, and I think that we do have to be more serious about the security of Greenland. We can’t just ignore this place. We can’t just ignore the president’s desires, but, most importantly, we can’t ignore what I said earlier [about] the Russian and Chinese encroachment in Greenland. We have to do more," said Vance.

Since winning the 2024 election, Trump had announced the intention to annex countries and territories across continents. He has so far called for the annexation of Denmark’s Greenland, Panama Canal, Gaza Strip, and Canada. He has not ruled out invasions for the annexations of Greenland and Panama Canal.