Security tightens amid diplomatic unease
Danish authorities have sent additional police officers and sniffer dogs to Greenland just days before Usha Vance, the wife of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, is due to visit the mineral-rich Arctic territory. The move comes as concerns grow over the Trump administration’s renewed ambitions to assert greater influence over the autonomous Danish region, as reported by 20minutos.
The Danish National Police confirmed the deployment of reinforcements on Sunday, calling it standard procedure during visits by high-profile dignitaries. However, the timing — and broader political context — has made this anything but routine.
Trump’s renewed interest in the Arctic
The visit by Vance and her child, scheduled to include attendance at the national dog sled race Avannaata Qimussersu from Thursday to Saturday, has sparked alarm in Nuuk. Trump previously floated the idea of “buying” Greenland during his first term. Now, with his return to office, he has publicly stated that the U.S. “will end up with Greenland one way or another,” fueling speculation that Washington’s intentions are far from symbolic.
Local media have reported that Vance will be joined by Trump’s national security advisor, Mike Waltz, although the White House has not confirmed these details.
Images published by the Greenlandic outlet Sermitsiaq show two U.S. military Hercules aircraft on the tarmac in Nuuk, reportedly linked to preparations for the visit. The flights coincided with the arrival of American personnel and equipment.
Greenland’s leadership calls for global support
Greenland’s caretaker Prime Minister, Múte Bourup Egede, has publicly criticized the visit, calling it a disruption and a provocation during a delicate political moment. Following recent elections, a new government is still being formed.
“The visit by the wife of the U.S. vice president and the president’s top security advisor cannot be seen as just a private trip,” Egede wrote on Facebook, adding that “we are already seeing the chaos it has caused.”
In a Sermitsiaq interview, he warned: “If our allies don’t speak up about how the U.S. is treating Greenland, this will escalate daily.”
Egede urged allied nations to provide vocal and clear support for Greenland, framing the Waltz-Vance visit as an overt show of power rather than cultural diplomacy.
A strategic gem in the Arctic
Greenland’s location in the North Atlantic makes it a strategic military outpost, hosting the U.S. Space Force’s Pituffik base, which plays a critical role in missile warning systems and satellite monitoring. The island also sits on vast reserves of rare earth minerals essential to modern technology, adding further geopolitical weight.
Despite U.S. insistence that its interest is purely strategic, not expansionist, locals remain skeptical. Greenland’s population, primarily Indigenous Inuit, has consistently rejected foreign ambitions that bypass their self-determination.
With no official meetings planned between Greenland’s interim government and the visiting Americans, the stage is set for a tense — and closely watched — diplomatic moment in the Arctic.
