Greenland braced for JD Vance visit after Trump's claim US will inevitably take over island
In normal times, a visit by a US vice-president would be actively sought by many allied countries as a useful show of close relations with Washington.
But these days are gone. When JD Vance touches down at Pituffik space base in Greenland in the afternoon, there will be no Danish representatives to welcome him there, and they were open about the fact that he is, in fact, not welcome there, at least not anywhere outside the US base. People take part in a demonstration in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on 15 March 2025. Photograph: Christian Klindt Soelbeck/EPA
But then, these are not normal times, and it is not difficult to see why Danish politicians are not excited about increasingly thinly veiled threats of US plans to take control over Greenland – even against the will of its people.
It marks a dramatic shift from the close alliance between Denmark and the US, as Copenhagen now faces what still feels like a surreal scenario of having to defend a part of their country – which repeatedly showed no interest in becoming a part of the US – from the increasingly assertive US administration.
Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump said:
'It's an island that from a defensive posture, and even offensive posture, is something we need, especially with the world the way it is, and we're going to have to have it.'
'So, I think we'll go as far as we have to go. We need Greenland and the world needs us to have Greenland, including Denmark.'
These words will inevitably frame the way today's visit will be perceived in Europe. A source in the Danish government is quoted in today's Berlingske as worrying that Denmark could face its version of 'the Crimea script,' a reference to the Russian illegal occupation of the Ukrainian territory in 2014.
'For Denmark, this is the biggest foreign policy crisis since the second world war,' Jon Rahbek Clemmensen, Head of Research at the Center for Arctic Security Studies of the Royal Danish Defence College, told TV2.
There are still many unknowns about the programme of the visit – there are only so many things you can do in one of the world's most isolated places – but Copenhagen particularly fears that Vance could use the trip to deliver a speech furthering the US claims to Greenland. He has a form with provocative speeches in Europe, after all.
Despite earlier reports, the US vice-president could still be joined by senior officials, national security adviser Mike Waltz and energy secretary Chris Wright, highlighting the unusually high profile of the visit.
Let's see.
But it's perhaps not a coincidence that it's also that today that four of the five parties in the new Greenlandic parliament – all except the most pro-independence, pro-American Naleraq – are planning to announce the formation of a new government, just hours before Vance gets to the island.
I will bring you all the key updates on this throughout the day and more stories from France, Germany, and across Europe.
It's Friday, 28 March 2025, and this is Europe live. It's Jakub Krupa here.
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