After the US president's son Donald Trump Jr. on January 7, it's now the turn of Vice President JD Vance's wife to arrive in Greenland, on March 27. Officially, it's a three-day private visit: accompanied by her son, Usha Vance will attend the Avannaata Qimussersua, a sled dog race in Sisimiut, the autonomous Danish territory's second-largest city. But in Nuuk as in Copenhagen, Usha Vance's visit is considered a highly political event and is causing outrage, especially as Donald Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and his energy secretary, Chris Wright, will be on the trip.
In a video posted on Instagram on Sunday, March 23, Usha Vance claims to have "been reading all about" the sled race with her children, mentioning in passing that her country is "a sponsor" of it: the organizers have confirmed that the US consulate in Nuuk has covered the teams' transportation costs, as part of an agreement with local airline Air Greenland. "I'm also coming to celebrate the long history of mutual respect and cooperation between our nations, and to express hope that our relationship will only grow stronger in the coming years," she continued.
This contrasts with what her husband has been saying. In early February on Fox News, the vice president opined that Denmark was "not doing its job" in Greenland and was "not a good ally." "If that means we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland, that is what President Trump is going to do, because he doesn’t care about what the Europeans scream at us, he cares about putting the interests of America's citizens first," JD Vance insisted.
'Unacceptable behavior'
On Sunday, the residents of Greenland's capital were surprised to see two American military aircraft land at Nuuk Airport, loaded with security guards and four armored cars. At the same time, around 40 Danish police officers, sent as reinforcements, arrived in Sisimiut. The local newspaper, Sermitsiaq, opened a live feed to follow the events.
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