Trump is sending Usha Vance and NSC adviser Mike Walz to Greenland this week for some reason. He says it’s a “friendly visit” and the Greenlanders invited them.
Greenland’s government flatly denied a claim made by President Donald Trump that officials from the island invited a U.S. delegation led by Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, to visit the Arctic territory this week.
Vance and her son are expected to land in Greenland on Thursday, alongside Trump‘s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The Vances will watch a dogsled race and “celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity,” the second lady said in a statement. Waltz and Wright plan to visit a U.S. military base.
Some officials in Greenland, including outgoing Prime Minister Múte B. Egede, have described the trip as a “provocation” and “highly aggressive,” given Trump’s stated desire to acquire the Danish territory.
“We are now at a level where this cannot in any way be characterized as a harmless visit from a politician’s wife,” Egede said Monday. “The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us.”
It is not a harmless visit. How do I know this? Because we have a good idea about how Trump is likely thinking about this:
Sadly, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to think that Trump might simply say “they asked us to help them secure their independence” and maybe even find a couple of Greenlanders to back them up (not that it would be needed.) There are only 56,000 people in Greenland so Hegseth could easily send in a few troops to “secure” the Capitol as “peacekeepers.” (We already have troops there…)
Yes, this would shock Europe and NATO but I think Trump is more than willing to take the chance that they would not start a war over Greenland. He’s probably right. It might break up NATO once and for all but he’d be fine with that.
Will this happen? I’d say there’s at least a 30% chance that it does. Maybe higher. He’s crazy and he’s drunk with power. And I think we have just seen a demonstration in living color that the people around him are incompetent toadies across the board.
Update: Here’s JD Vance being a snotty bitch and inviting himself on the trip
Vice President Vance said he’s traveling to Greenland on Friday, a move that comes after the Trump administration provoked backlash from officials in Greenland and Denmark when it was announced that second lady Usha Vance would be heading there.
“There was so much excitement around Usha’s visit to Greenland this Friday, that I decided that I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I’m going to join her,” Vance said in a video released on X on Tuesday afternoon.