Vance Visits U.S. Base in Greenland, Faults Denmark for Under-Investing in the Island
On March 28, 2025, U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived at Pituffik Space Base on the northwest coast of Greenland to tour the U.S. military's northernmost installation and address the service members stationed there. Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark. Pituffik, formerly known as Thule Air Base, sits about 750 miles (about 1,200 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle, and the temperature was about minus 3 degrees Fahrenheit when the delegation landed. Vance was the first U.S. vice president to visit Greenland.
Traveling with him were his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance; National Security Adviser Mike Waltz; Energy Secretary Chris Wright; and U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, among others. The delegation received a briefing on Arctic security at the base and met with the Space Force Guardians stationed there.
The trip had been scaled back before it began. The original itinerary had included cultural stops, among them Usha Vance attending a dogsled race in Sisimiut, but officials in Greenland and Denmark objected strongly to a visit arranged without an invitation, and the schedule was cut to the U.S. base only. Under the 1951 defense agreement between the United States and Denmark, the U.S. has the right to visit its own base.
Speaking to service members and reporters at the base, Vance directed sharp criticism at Denmark. "Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have under-invested in the people of Greenland and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change," he said.
Vance said Denmark had failed to keep pace over the past 20 years and that security in Greenland and around the base was not what it had been three or four decades earlier, while China and Russia were showing growing interest in Greenland. He stressed that the argument was with the leadership of Denmark, not with the people of Greenland.
The visit came as President Donald Trump repeatedly said the United States should take control of Greenland. Mute Egede, Greenland's acting prime minister, had earlier called the visit a provocation. Greenland had held a parliamentary election on March 11, and a new government was still being formed. At the White House the same day, Trump said Greenland was essential to international security. (Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2025年3月28日，美国副总统万斯（中）与夫人乌莎·万斯（左）在格陵兰皮图菲克太空基地听取第821太空基地大队简报，右为基地指挥官苏珊·迈耶斯上校。（美国副总统办公室，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: U.S. Vice President JD Vance (center) and Second Lady Usha Vance (left) receive a briefing from the 821st Space Base Group at Pituffik Space Base, Greenland, on March 28, 2025; base commander Col. Susan Meyers is at right. (Office of the Vice President of the United States, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
