Denmark welcomes US changes to Greenland visit amid Trump spat
World
The White House on Tuesday announced that the delegation would instead be headed by JD Vance himself
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark on Wednesday welcomed a US decision to confine a planned visit to Greenland to a military base after the plans triggered a spat between Copenhagen and the White House amid President Donald Trump's interest in taking over the island.
Denmark's prime minister had said on Tuesday that a planned visit by Usha Vance, the wife of US Vice President JD Vance, to a popular dog-sled race in Greenland this week was part of an "unacceptable pressure" on the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
The White House on Tuesday announced that the delegation would instead be headed by JD Vance himself, but that it would only visit the US Space Base at Pituffik in northern Greenland and not the dog-sled race, a big annual sporting event.
"I think it's very positive that the Americans cancelled their visit to the Greenlandic society. Instead, they will visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told broadcaster DR.
Since Donald Trump Jr.'s private visit to the mineral-rich island in January, Trump has consistently talked of annexing Greenland and urged its residents to join the United States.
Polls have shown that nearly all Greenlanders oppose becoming part of the United States, and anti-American protesters have recently staged some of the largest demonstrations ever seen in Greenland.
Similar protests had been planned in connection with the Vance's visit.
Karsten Honge, a member of the Danish parliament in Copenhagen, said the US decision not to visit the dog-sled race in the town of Sisimiut, as well as a trip to the capital Nuuk, appeared to have been made out of necessity.
"They are doing this for the obvious reason that if they had shown up in Nuuk or Sisimiut, they would probably have been met by demonstrations with banners and people yelling 'Yankees go home'," Honge told Danish broadcaster TV2.
Greenland's acting head of government, Mute Egede, had labelled the visit a "provocation," as it coincides with government coalition talks following a recent parliamentary election as well as municipal elections due next week.
Brian Hughes, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said on Tuesday the delegation aimed to "learn about Greenland, its culture, history, and people."
Frederiksen has disputed the notion of a private visit with official representatives.
