Trump Sends Usha Vance on Charm Offensive to Greenland

President Donald Trump is relying on a new face to win the hearts and minds of Greenlanders and aid his push for a takeover of the island territory: second lady Usha Vance.

In a statement Sunday, the White House announced that Vance will voyage to Greenland on Thursday, March 27, with her son and a delegation to “visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race.”

The popular local event brings around “37 mushers and 444 dogs in a remarkable display of speed, skill, and teamwork” the statement continued, which maintained a more light-hearted tone than most of the president’s past statements on the territory. The White House also reiterated that Vance’s trip was to “celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity.”

In an Instagram video Sunday, the second lady further reflected on her upcoming trip and said she was particularly excited to watch the dog sled race, “which our country is proud to support as a sponsor.”

National Security Adviser Michael Waltz is also reportedly slated to travel to Greenland this week, though on a separate itinerary than Vance. His visit was first reported by two Danish news outlets, Berlingske and Jyllands-Posten, and was additionally confirmed by an anonymous source to CBS News, who added that Waltz will visit the Pituffik Space Base.

A White House official additionally confirmed Waltz’s attendance to the Daily Beast.

Greenland has long been in Trump’s sights—he spoke of acquiring the territory from Denmark during his first administration, but only recently became more serious about the endeavor. He has repeatedly talked of taking it over, and refused to rule out the use of military force to do so.

Though the Trump administration refrained from using the president’s typical rhetoric when announcing Vance’s trip this week, Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede described the incoming visits from several senior officials as “highly aggressive.”

In comments to local Greenlandic newspaper, Sermitsiaq, Egede said, “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.”

The comments are the latest in a heated back-and-forth.

Trump recently declared during an address to a joint session of Congress earlier this month: “We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it.”

“But we need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” the president continued. “We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together, we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before,” he added, simultaneously noting that he believes in the territory’s self-determination.

In response to Trump’s remarks at the time, Egede quipped back in a Facebook post where he reiterated “Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland in the Greenlandic language) is ours.”

“We don’t want to be Americans, nor Danes; We are Kalaallit,” he continued. “The Americans and their leader must understand that. We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken. Our future will be decided by us in Greenland.”

The world’s largest island, Greenland is an autonomous Danish dependent territory with self-government and its own parliament. In a February interview with Fox News, Vice President JD Vance slammed Denmark—“which controls Greenland”—for “not doing its job” and for “not being a good ally.”

“How are we going to solve that problem, solve our national security?,” the vice president continued. “If that means we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland, that is what President Trump is going to do because he doesn’t care about what the Europeans scream at us, he cares about putting the interests of America’s citizens first.”

At the start of the year, the president announced that his son, Donald Trump Jr., would be visiting the island to take in “some of the most magnificent areas and sights.”

Trump Jr.’s subsequent leisurely trip to Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, saw him visiting a handful of local spots and posing with some of his dad’s supporters.