Usha Vance steps up to fill the void left by Melania in Donald Trump's second term

Usha Vance will on Thursday embark on a trip to Greenland, with the experts suggesting that the second lady is entering the political spotlight as she would be shouldering high-profile responsibilities that would normally have been taken by first lady Melania Trump.

Usha Vance’s Greenland trip comes at a time when tensions with the US are at breaking point after President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested he would annex the autonomous Danish territory.

According to The Telegraph report, Melania has made only a few public appearances since January, creating a “soft power” vacuum that the second lady has stepped in to fill.

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She has indicated her intention to step back from Washington, opting instead to divide her time between Mar-a-Lago and New York during her husband’s second term, added the report.

As a relative newcomer to the political landscape, Usha Vance will need to navigate a diplomatically sensitive situation in Greenland and is likely to face protests from locals frustrated by the Trump administration’s confrontational stance.

“What’s interesting is that this is something you might expect a first lady to do,” The Telegraph quoted Lisa M Burns, who has written several books about the role, as saying.

“Historically, we know that Melania Trump is not as active as a first lady. She’s a bit more reluctant. She definitely picks and chooses when she does things, so we’re seeing the second lady step into this role,” Burns added.

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Burns compared the relationship between the two women to that of “Lady Bird” Johnson stepping in for Jackie Kennedy in the early 1960s, noting that this trip represents Usha Vance’s first significant test in the political arena.

“This is the first thing we’re seeing from her in terms of whether she’s going to be a more active participant in the administration,” Burns was quoted as saying.

Before her husband JD Vance became vice president, Usha Vance was a registered Democrat and worked at a progressive law firm in San Francisco.

According to The Telegraph report, a friend from Cambridge University described her as “left-leaning, cosmopolitan, and committed to improving the world,” adding that she showed no signs of far-right political views or tolerance for them.

Usha Vance’s trip to Greenland was initially planned as a solo visit, likely to ease tensions and provide diplomatic cover for National Security Adviser Mike Waltz during a space base visit.

However, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute B. Egede labeled the move as “highly aggressive,” stating, “We are now at a point where it can no longer be described as an innocent visit from a politician’s spouse… the international community must now react.”

Meanwhile, Waltz was caught in a political controversy after unintentionally leaking top-secret information about US military strikes to a journalist. On Tuesday, JD Vance announced he would join his wife, claiming he “didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself.”

According to a Politico report on Wednesday, the Greenland trip was “toned down” to include only a visit to a US military base, leading Usha Vance to forgo a scheduled dogsled race and the second couple will travel to the base for a briefing on security measures in the Arctic.

Until now, the second lady’s public appearances have mainly coincided with her husband’s events. She spoke at the Republican National Convention, attended the inauguration, and recently led the US delegation to the Special Olympics in Turin.

Behind the scenes, she has served as JD Vance’s “spirit guide,” helping him navigate Yale Law School and his political career.

He describes her as his secret weapon — an accomplished lawyer from Yale and Cambridge, who has also edited his RNC speech and honed his debating skills for the upcoming showdown with Tim Walz.

Diana Carlin, co-author of Remember the First Ladies, noted that the geopolitics of the Greenland visit wouldn’t have suited Melania Trump.

“One of the beauties of this position, since it’s not formally established, is that each woman has done it her way. They can do as much or as little as they want,” The Telegraph quoted her as saying. “Melania has exercised that. She’s more interested in domestic issues,” she said.

Prof. Carlin added, “The whole second lady role is dependent on what the first lady and the administration have as agendas.”

Melania was rarely seen during last year’s election campaign but made several appearances on Fox to promote her memoir, distancing herself from her husband’s abortion stance.

In the book, she claimed her controversial jacket choice during a visit to a child migrant detention center in 2018 was a “discreet” message to critics and recalled advising Donald Trump to end the “kids in cages” policy.

Since becoming first lady, Melania has maintained a low profile, attending the inauguration and inaugural balls, visiting disaster victims, and later disappearing from the White House for four weeks. She lobbied for an anti-revenge porn bill in Congress and attended a dinner with US governors.

While she kept a low profile during the first Trump administration, she garnered attention as a newcomer, appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair Mexico shortly after taking office. This time, she claims to have “more important things” to do than appear in magazines.

“(Melania) was always very much involved but you didn’t see it – more behind the scenes,” the president said in January.

Melania is also reported to have worked on an Amazon documentary about her return to the White House, for which she has been paid at least $28 million.

Carlin described Melania as an “assertive” first lady who would challenge her husband, notably disagreeing with him on abortion. Now, Usha Vance has the chance to assert herself on the international stage and within the Trump administration.

With inputs from agencies