Greenlanders are angry and confused over unwanted US visit

The U.S has now shifted the visit’s focus to national security even as both Danish and Greenlandic officials have insisted they see the uninvited trip as a provocation. Instead of a taking in a dogsled race as originally scheduled, the Vances will be visiting American soldiers at a U.S. military base, far from any large settlement of civilian Greenlanders, White House officials said Tuesday.

Greenland has denounced the visit by the delegation, which the White House said Sunday would include national security adviser Michael Waltz and secretary of energy Chris Wright, as a “highly aggressive" move.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday dialed up the rhetoric against Washington, saying that the scheduled visit puts “completely unacceptable pressure on Greenland, Greenlandic politicians and the Greenlandic population," as well as on Denmark.

“President Trump is serious," she told Danish television. “He wants Greenland."

Vance said Tuesday that he chose to join his wife Friday because of the pushback from the Danish government. “I decided 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 posted to X on Tuesday. The vice president reframed the trip as a “really important" matter for U.S. national security.

The U.S. trip adds to confusion in Greenland and Denmark about what the Trump administration actually wants with the self-governing territory of Denmark. Beyond stating that Greenland is important to U.S. national security and poorly protected by Denmark—and indicating that he covets its critical minerals—the only concrete wish Trump has expressed about Greenland is for the U.S. to own it.

That stated desire has unsettled Greenlanders. Many watched Trump’s speech to Congress this month, when he said about their homeland, “One way or the other we’re going to get it," followed by laughter from some in the audience.

Late on Sunday, residents of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, watched as two U.S. Hercules military transport planes touched down at the airport, carrying security personnel and bulletproof vehicles in apparent preparation for the visit.

Greenlandic politicians say the trip amount to meddling in their domestic affairs as they negotiate the formation of a new government after an election this month. The winner was a party that firmly rejects U.S. advances and advocates slowing down the island’s push for independence.

“It is disrespectful to do this without an official invitation, while Greenland is in the process of forming a government," said Aaja Chemnitz, one of two Greenlandic members of the Danish parliament. “Greenland decides its own future, and we will reach out to the U.S. of our own accord, if we want closer cooperation."

Trump on Monday rejected the notion that the coming visit was a provocation. Despite the lack of official invitation, he claimed that the delegation has been invited by people in Greenland.

The U.S. consulate in Nuuk, Greenland.Journalists quizzed a Greenland police official ahead of a planned visit this week by Vice President JD Vance and first lady Usha Vance

Jørgen Boassen, a 50-year-old bricklayer who in recent months has become known as Greenland’s most outspoken Trump supporter, said earlier this week that he helped plan the visit, but on Tuesday declined to comment. In January, Boassen visited Washington for Trump’s inauguration, along with a now prominent member of Greenland’s most fervently pro-independence party, Naleraq, which placed second in the recent election.

Trump and Denmark’s Frederiksen have a history of feuding. In 2019, Frederiksen called Trump’s idea of buying Greenland “absurd"—a comment Trump slammed as “nasty." Until Tuesday, Frederiksen had kept a largely diplomatic tone this time around, while touring Europe to drum up support for diplomatic defense of Greenland.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has suggested increasing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s troop presence in Greenland to counter Trump’s claims that the island isn’t protected. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has said it is out of the question that the European Union would let another country attack its borders.

While Trump raised the idea of buying Greenland in his first term, his claims in his second term that he wants to acquire it is in keeping with his apparent notions of expanding the U.S. He has pushed for America to retake control of the Panama Canal and called Canada the 51st state.

Much of Greenland’s overall population of 57,000 is in Nuuk, the capital.

He has said acquiring Greenland is an “absolute necessity" and refused to rule out using military force to take over the island of 57,000 people. He has also threatened “very high tariffs" if Denmark refuses to cooperate.

“I think Greenland’s going to be something that maybe is in our future," Trump said at a cabinet meeting Monday. “I think it’s important. It’s important from the standpoint of international security."

Greenland is a prized asset for its strategic location and deposits of critical minerals—and it has already for decades welcomed a significant U.S. presence.

It holds a commanding position in the Arctic, as a buffer between North America and Russia. Trump and JD Vance said Denmark was unable to protect the island. Three times the size of Texas, the territory has no army and relies on an aging fleet of seven Danish ships for protection.

However, expecting Copenhagen to exert full armed control over a territory 50 times the size of Denmark proper is unrealistic, especially amid growing military demands in Ukraine and the Baltic Sea. In January, Denmark announced a $1.9 billion package to upgrade Greenland’s defense, which seemingly failed to mollify Trump.

The U.S. has the freedom to strengthen up its own military presence in Greenland if it wishes to. According to a 1951 defense agreement with Copenhagen, the U.S. can deploy troops and maintain military bases on the island. During the Cold War, it at times kept up to 17 military installations in Greenland, including radars and early-warning systems. Today, the U.S. holds only the Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as the Thule Air Base, home to a range of missile warning sensors, and space surveillance and control sensors.

U.S. officials have also expressed interest in Greenland’s underground wealth. Yet, large-scale exploitation of its minerals remains a distant prospect, not because of resistance from Greenland’s government but to poor infrastructure, a harsh climate, ice that covers 80% of the island and a reluctance from investors to fund mining operations there.

The recent Greenlandic reactions mark a stark departure from the mood only a few months ago. While polling shows that an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders don’t want to be American, there is widespread desire on the island for more autonomy to build commercial and political ties with other nations independent of Copenhagen’s policies. In October, United Airlines announced it would begin direct flights this summer from New York to a newly built airport in Nuuk, prompting hopes in Greenland of more American trade and tourism.

Now, Trump has turned some of those hopes into concerns, said Ulrik Pram Gad, senior researcher with the Danish Institute for International Studies.

“There was an opening, but he has closed it now," Gad said of Trump. “My impression is that Greenlanders no longer trust his intentions, and are starting to get a little scared."

“Greenland has for the past 40 years moved towards self-determination," he added. “All the influence over its foreign policy and minerals, which it has wrangled from Copenhagen, is not something they want to just hand over to Washington."

Write to Sune Engel Rasmussen at sune.rasmussen@wsj.com, Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com and Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@wsj.com