Vice President J.D. Vance doubled down on the Trump administration’s interest in acquiring Greenland on Friday while visiting the United States’ Pituffik Space Base as President Donald Trump argued the U.S. “can’t” do without the island.
Vance emphasized how Greenland is vital to U.S. national security while speaking to reporters Friday afternoon.
“Well, the president said we have to have Greenland. And I think that we do have to be more serious about the security of Greenland,” he said. “We can’t just ignore this place. We can’t just ignore the president’s desires.”
Trump has repeatedly suggested the U.S. should take over Greenland “one way or the another” for national security purposes and as he continues to emphasize Greenland’s importance as China and Russia ramp up activity in the Arctic.
“We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of: Do you think we can do without it? We can’t,” he claimed in the Oval Office on Friday. “If you look at Greenland right now, if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place, and we’re not going to be able to do that.
“We’re not relying on Denmark or anybody else to take care of that situation,” he added. “And we’re not talking about peace for the United States.”
“Greenland’s very important for the peace of the world — not us, the peace of the entire world,” said Trump, who made overtures about buying Greenland in his first term in office. “And I think Denmark understands it. I think the European Union understands it. And if they don’t, we’re going to have to explain it to them.”
However, Vance noted that the administration “respects the self-determination of the people of Greenland” but that they’d be better served by the U.S. security umbrella.
“Yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination,” he said. “We hope that they choose to partner with the United States because we’re the only nation on Earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security — because their security is very much our security, as these brave Americans show.”
Vance added that Denmark has not kept the people of Greenland and U.S. troops at the base safe from “very aggressive incursions from Russia, from China and from other nations.”
“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 architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change,” he said.
The vice president and second lady Usha Vance arrived in Greenland on Friday for a scaled-back visit to the Pituffik Space Base, where he delivered remarks and received briefings after the couple greeted U.S. service members stationed there. While meeting with service members, J.D. Vance noted he is the first vice president to visit Greenland, saying it is “a pretty cool thing,” before giving an overview of the visit.
“We’re talk to the command and some of the Guardians about what exactly the base does and all the important ways it contributes to national security. We’re going to get a briefing, of course, about, you know, what you guys do every day,” he said.
The vice president said he was told that assignment to the base was a one-year, unaccompanied assignment, meaning service members are not able to bring their families along.
“So I know it’s a lot of sacrifices, spending a year away from your families, but the mission is really important,” he added. “The Trump administration, the president is really interested in Arctic security. As you all know, that’s a big issue, and it’s only going to get bigger over the coming decades. So thanks for doing what you do.”
The Vances were joined on the trip by national security adviser Mike Waltz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Sen. Mike Lee. The trip was originally planned as a visit by the second lady to attend a dogsled race, but that plan was scrapped after heavy criticism.
Wright told Fox News on Thursday that Greenland has tried for years to interest U.S. mining companies to develop resources there because there’s not enough infrastructure to make mining economical.
“So, heck, maybe that is going to happen,” he said. “I think that is in the best interest of Greenland and Greenlanders, and they have expressed that for years. If the United States can have the right cooperation, I think capital can flow there, which would bring jobs and economic opportunity to Greenland and critical minerals and resources to the United States — a win for both sides.”
The idea of Greenland becoming part of the U.S. is opposed by many in Greenland and Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory.
Usha Vance was originally scheduled to make the trip to learn about Greenland’s cultural heritage and attend the race before it was announced that the vice president, Waltz and Wright would join her. The trip was later scaled back to just a visit to the space base.
J.D. Vance and Waltz are at the center of the scandal over the purported conversation discussing the attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen over the commercially available Signal app that inadvertently included The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, who reported details of the conversation on Monday.
Officials in Greenland and Denmark have pushed backagainst the visit.
Reuters reported that Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen called Trump’s statements an “escalation” in Trump’s rhetoric.
“These very powerful statements about a close ally do not suit the U.S. president,” Poulsen told reporters in Copenhagen on Thursday. “I need to clearly speak out against what I see as an escalation from the American side.”
On Wednesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a post on social media the U.S. is putting “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland and Denmark ahead of the unsolicited visit, adding that the two regions will “resist.”
The timing of the visit was criticized in both Greenland and Denmark as Greenland tries to put together a coalition government after parliamentary elections two weeks ago.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
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