Vice President JD Vance announced in a video Tuesday that he’ll be joining his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, on her trip to Greenland this week—a change of scenery that comes just as he fends off the headline-grabbing aftermath of an embarrassing incident in which a well-known journalist was added to a group chat with some of the Trump administration’s top national security officials, including Vance.
The vice president is set to stop by a U.S. Space Force base in the island’s northwest coast during the trip, while his wife takes in a traditional dog-sled race.
“There was so much excitement around Usha’s visit to Greenland this Friday, that I decided that I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I’m going to join her,” Vance said in a video posted to X.
“I’m gonna visit some of our guardians in the Space Force in the northwest coast of Greenland and also just check out what’s going on with the security there in Greenland,” he continued, seemingly referring to the Pituffik Space Base—where temperatures are forecasted to be below zero degrees Fahrenheit this week.
The vice president went on to claim that “a lot of other countries have threatened Greenland” and “have threatened to use its territory and its waterways” against the U.S. and Canada.
“Speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world,” Vance continued. “Unfortunately, leaders in both America and in Denmark, I think, ignored Greenland for far too long. That’s been bad for Greenland, it’s also been bad for the security of the entire world. We think we can take things in a different direction so I’m gonna go check it out.”
In a press release earlier this week, the White House announced that Usha, along with one of her sons, will be traveling to Greenland to “visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race.”
A White House official also confirmed to the Daily Beast that National Security Adviser Michael Waltz would be heading to Greenland as well, though on a separate itinerary.
In a Facebook post Monday, the government of Greenland blasted the Trump administration’s upcoming trip and said: “Just for the record, Naalakkersuisut, the government of Greenland, has not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official.”
Prime Minister Múte Egede also described the visits as “highly aggressive” and told local Greenlandic newspaper, Sermitsiaq on Sunday: “What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland?”
“The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us,” he continued. “His mere presence in Greenland will no doubt fuel American belief in Trump’s mission—and the pressure will increase.”
When asked by reporters Monday if there was any provocation of Denmark, which Greenland is an autonomous territory of, through these visits, President Donald Trump said “this is friendliness, not 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. If they’re calling us, we’re not calling them,” he continued. “They really like the idea because they have been somewhat abandoned, as you know. They haven’t been taken well, good care of. And I think Greenland is going to be something that maybe is in our future.”
The president has long advocated for taking control over the territory, and has refused to rule out military force as a means to do so.
The Vances’ trip comes on the heels of a bombshell story this week in The Atlantic, in which the magazine’s editor-in-chief claimed that he had been added to a Signal group chat with some of the administration’s top officials, including Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and others.
In a stunning essay, Jeffrey Goldberg relayed how the messaging group was used to plan airstrikes on the Houthi militant group in Yemen—in the process disclosing likely classified information over the unsecured application.
In the messages, Vance pushed back on the president and others for going ahead with the strikes—a rare break for a vice president who publicly has backed even the most controversial measures implemented by Trump in recent months.
“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” Vance wrote. “I think we are making a mistake.”
A Vance spokesperson did not deny the exchange in a statement to The Atlantic and said, “Vice President Vance unequivocally supports this administration’s foreign policy.”
“The President and the Vice President have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement.”
