Trump insists Usha Vance's visit to Greenland is 'friendly'
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US President Donald Trump on Monday insisted that second lady Usha Vance's planned visit to Greenland is about "friendliness, not provocation."
"This is friendliness and provocation. We're dealing with a lot of people from Greenland that would like to see something happen with respect to their being properly protected and properly taken care of," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting.
The wife of US Vice President JD Vance, Usha Vance, is set to travel to Greenland this week as Trump continues to suggest the US could take control of the mineral-rich Arctic island.
Her office said Vance will leave on Thursday and return on Saturday.
Usha will be part of a US delegation set to 'visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland's national dogsled race.'
Trump's conciliatory tone on Monday comes as Greenland's prime minister Múte Bourup Egede warned of 'American aggression' and lamented a 'mess' caused by the upcoming visit from Vance, who will be joined by Trump's national security adviser and energy secretary.
Trump claimed to have been receiving positive overtures from the island nation, although authorities there have clearly expressed concerns ahead of the visit.
There is 'worry on the Island'
Egede, who remains in the post as Greenland's prime minister until a new government is formed, acknowledged Sunday on Facebook that there is worry on the island.
The visit of 'the wife of the United States vice president and the United States president's highest security adviser cannot be seen only as a private visit, "he said. 'We can already see now how big a mess it's caused.'
Egede said there would be no official meetings with the US visitors because a new government has yet to be formed.
He called on Greenland's allies to show support, adding that 'the only purpose' of a trip by Waltz is 'a demonstration of power to us, and the signal is not to be misunderstood.'
'We have been treated unacceptably,' he wrote on his Facebook account.
Related
Greenland's prime minister condemns US officials' visit as 'demonstration of power'
Greenland's likely next leader calls for unity
However, Demokraatit's Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the likely next Greenlandic leader, attempted to allay fears by announcing that he was forming a new coalition government "with the clear goal of creating security for our country and our people."
'When foreign dignitaries travel to our country on what are called private visits, it rightly causes concern,' he wrote on Facebook. 'There is no reason to panic. But there is good reason to stand together and to demand respect. I do. And I will continue to do so.'
Greenland is a self-governing region of Denmark, and northwestern Greenland houses the US Pituffik military base that falls under the Pentagon's Space Force.
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But Trump has repeatedly said that he thinks the US should take control of Greenland for strategic and national security purposes, something that has rattled NATO ally Denmark and the European Union.
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