U.S. officials went door-to-door in Greenland to find anyone who wanted to be visited by the Vances. They found no one

Graig Graziosi
Fri, March 28, 2025 

The Independent

No one wants to talk to Usha Vance—at least no one in Greenland.

US officials have reportedly been traveling around the Danish-controlled territory looking for locals who wanted to receive a visit from the Second Lady, according to a report from Danish TV 2.

Greenlanders' response? No thanks.

Residents aren't the only ones snubbing the Second Lady ahead of her high-profile visit to the island; Tupilak Travel, which is based in Greenland's capital city, Nuuk, initially said it would host Usha Vance, but pulled out on Thursday.

In a post on Facebook, the company said that the US Consulate called and asked if it wanted the visit, and the company initially said yes, but then backed out.

“After closer consideration, however, we have now informed the consulate that we do not want her visit, as we cannot accept the underlying agenda and will not be part of the press show that, quite, of course, comes with it. No thanks to nice visit… Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders," the company said.

The cancellation comes on the same day that Vice President JD Vance announced that he would join his wife's upcoming trip to Greenland.

“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.

Vance, the Second Lady, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Energy Secretary Christ Wright are scheduled to depart for Greenland on Friday, though those plans could change by the time the delegation departs.

The U.S. delegation was also scheduled to attend the Avannaata Qimusserua, one of the world's largest dog-sledding events, but that visit has been cancelled as well, according to USA Today.

As it currently stands, the American visitors will only be visiting the U.S. Space Force Base at Pituffik.

Greenlanders and Danish authorities aren't pleased about the trip. Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accused the US of exerting "unacceptable pressure" on Greenland through its planned visit.

“I have to say that it is unacceptable pressure being placed on Greenland and Denmark in this situation. And it is pressure that we will resist,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcasters DR and TV2 on Tuesday. “You cannot make a private visit with official representatives from another country, when the acting Greenlandic government has made it very clear that they do not want a visit at this time,”

Frederiksen went on to say the US delegation's arrival is "clearly not a visit that is about what Greenland needs or wants."

“President Trump is serious. He wants Greenland. Therefore, [this visit] cannot be seen independently of anything else,” Frederiksen said.

Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to buy Greenland or obtain it through other means, including potential military action.

Thanks to climate change driven by human burning of fossil fuels, new shipping corridors are opening up in the Arctic Circle as sea ice melts. Trade routes between Asia and Europe or Asia and the U.S. are approximately 40 percent shorter through the Arctic than by way of the Suez or Panama Canals, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

Currently, only five countries have territory in the Arctic Circle: Canada, Russia, Norway, Denmark, by way of the semiautonomous Greenland, and the U.S. via Alaska. If the U.S. controls Greenland, it would be a major expansion of the nation's control over Arctic shipping routes.

Trump has gone so far as to say that the island is "very, very important" for U.S. “military security."

In addition to its potential military and economic strategic benefits, the Arctic may also have as of yet untapped fuel resources. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Arctic holds 13 percent of undiscovered oil resources and 30 percent of undiscovered natural gas, primarily all offshore.

Greenland itself is rich with rare earth minerals, which are essential components in the production of cellphones, batteries, and other consumer technologies.

'Charm offensive failed': Not one Greenlander was willing to publicly welcome Usha Vance

Travis Gettys
March 28, 2025 

RAW STORY

U.S. Vice President JD Vance talks with Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin as he and second lady Usha Vance welcome Martin and his wife Mary O'Shea (not pictured) for breakfast, ahead of St. Patrick's Day, at the vice president's residence in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 12, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis

An advance team knocked on doors in Greenland’s capital Nuuk seeking someone who would welcome a visit from second lady Usha Vance, but every single person said no, according to a Danish TV report.

Vice president J.D. Vance joined his wife on the trip after she got a cold shoulder from prospective hosts, according to a report by Denmark's TV 2 that was flagged by The Hill, and the couple's plans shifted from a dogsled race in Sisimiut and meetings with Nuuk locals to a visit to a remote Space Force base.

“The Americans’ charm offensive has failed,” reported TV 2 correspondent Jesper Steinmetz. “They have finally understood what the Greenlanders here in town have been trying to tell them for a little over a week: We don’t want visitors right now.”


ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding bill

A senior White House official denied the report, saying the couple was happy to visit the ice-bound military base, where temperatures for March typically stay well below zero.

“This is categorically false," that official said. "The Second Lady is proud to visit the Pituffik Space Base with her husband to learn more about arctic security and the great work of the Space Base."


The vice president is expected to attack Denmark, a U.S. ally, during the visit, which comes as president Donald Trump has inflamed international tension over his threats to annex the country's autonomous territory.

Until recently, we could safely rely on the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we liked to work closely,” said Greenland prime minister Múte Bourup Egede earlier this week.

“But that time is over, we have to admit that, because the new American leadership is completely and utterly indifferent to what we have stood together on so far, because now it is only a matter of them taking over our country over our heads,” Egede added.


'P.R. disaster': J.D. Vance expected to attack Denmark on scaled-back visit to Greenland

Travis Gettys
March 28, 2025 

RAW STORY

Vice president J.D. Vance is expected to launch an attack on a U.S. ally during an unsolicited visit to Greenland with his wife.

Second lady Usha Vance had been scheduled to visit the autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark with one of the couple's young sons, but her husband decided to join her on a drastically scaled-back trip after watching outrage over her trip grow amid Donald Trump's threats to take control of the world's largest island, reported CNN.

“It was a combination of a little bit of commotion from Danish leaders combined with Vance wanting to go for a while,” said a senior White House official.

The Vances departed early Friday on Air Force Two and will return later the same day after visiting the remote U.S. Space Force outpost at Pituffik, with all cultural exchange events canceled, and the vice president is expected to strike a militaristic tone against Denmark, a fellow member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“Unfortunately, Danish leaders have spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the island to fall into disrepair," the senior White House official said. "Expect the vice president to emphasize these points as well."

Greenlanders and their government officials had spoken openly against the second lady's planned visit, and public protests were expected in the capital Nuuk, where about a third of the island's residents live, and its second-largest city Sisimiut, where a dogsled race is taking place.

“Trump’s talk of annexation and the visit of the Vances has united Greenlanders in defiance, with Greenlanders rallying together to protest,” said Dwayne Ryan Menezes, director of the UK-based think tank Polar Research and Policy Initiative.

“The Vances clearly realized that if they visited Nuuk or Sisimiut, the strategy would backfire even more than it has," Menezes added. "It would be a PR disaster, as all footage would likely feature protestors with placards of the sort we saw earlier this month (Yankee Go Home, and Make America Go Away), and would expose to the U.S. electorate the misinformation they were fed about how enthusiastically Greenlanders wished for Greenland to join the U.S.”

Usha Vance had apparently been invited to the dogsled race by American Daybreak, a group founded by Tom Dans, who worked on Arctic issues in the first Trump administration, and organizers for the race made clear they did not specifically invite her, and local media reports indicated Sisimiut residents had planned to silently protest her visit by turning their backs on her motorcade.

“In general, I think most Greenlanders are relieved that the unofficial visit to Sisimiut and Nuuk was cancelled," said said Jakob Nordstrøm, who runs a local pilot business in Nuuk. "Personally, I think it is a big win for Greenland. Most Greenlanders welcome tourists from the United States, but obviously this was not a tourist visit."

The White House official insisted that Usha Vance's original plans was set aside because they were incompatible with the vice president's schedule, not because of the backlash.

'But Greenland has a government': CNN host confronts conservative about J.D. Vance visit

Travis Gettys
March 28, 2025 

RAW STORY

CNN

CNN's Audie Cornish redirected a conservative blogger after he justified vice president J.D. Vance's visit to Greenland.

The vice president will join his wife Usha Vance in a drastically scaled-back unsolicited visit as Greenland officials and citizens make clear they're not welcome amid president Donald Trump's threats to take control of the autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, but Vance tried to put a happy spin on the backlash.

"There was so much excitement around his visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided that I didn't want her to have all that fun by herself," the vice president said, "and so I'm going to join her."

The second lady had planned on attending a dogsled race with one of the couple's young sons, but they'll instead visit the remote, ice-locked Pituffik Space Base, which caused Daily Signal executive editor Rob Bluey and other panelists on "CNN This Morning" to chuckle.

"I'm not going to front, I want to see a Space Force outpost, too," said host Audie Cornish. "That sounds good, but Rob, I heard you laughing a bit when you heard [Vance] explain this, that he wanted to join the fun. So is this a person who needs to get out of town because of the Signal chat fubar? Or is this going over there to do his tough talk with our friends and allies? What are you looking at?"

Vance was among the participants in a group chat on the Signal app where defense secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed top-secret military plans despite a journalist's unnoticed presence, but Bluey said the vice president was advancing U.S. strategic interests by visiting the world's largest island.

"Well, Donald Trump has talked about Greenland now for months, so I don't think this has just popped up out of the blue," Bluey said. "I think it's clearly a strategic interest of his because he's worried about the influence of Russia and China in that that region, particularly for the shipping lanes in the Arctic, but also for the minerals and the natural resources in Greenland. He does not want those adversaries to necessarily take advantage of Greenland at the expense of the United States."

Cornish looked askance at her conservative panelist.

"All those things sound good," she interjected, "but Greenland has a government. Like, we're talking about it like it doesn't."

Watch below or click here.

Photos show the unique culture of Greenland, the massive ice-covered island Trump wants to acquire

Jenny McGrath
Fri, March 28, 2025 




People first arrived to Greenland over 4,000 years ago, and it has a unique culture.


Its population is mostly Inuit, though it's been part of the Danish kingdom for hundreds of years.


There are Scandinavian influences, but Inuit traditions remain strong.

US Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, are traveling to Greenland this week, after the second lady's original itinerary in the Arctic island was amended.

Her initial agenda, which included watching a dog-sled race, sparked backlash because of the US government's designs on Greenland.

President Donald Trump has said the US needs to acquire Greenland — the largest island in the world and an autonomous Danish territory — for security reasons, recently saying, "I think, we'll go as far as we have to go" to control it.

Now, the Vances are only expected to visit the US military base on Greenland, a change the Danish government called "very positive."

The Vances "are proud to visit the Pituffik Space Base," JD Vance's press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, said in a statement to Business Insider.

"As the Vice President has said, previous US leaders have neglected Arctic security, while Greenland's Danish rulers have neglected their security obligations to the island," Van Kirk added. "The security of Greenland is critical in ensuring the security of the rest of the world, and the Vice President looks forward to learning more about the island."

Greenland is known for its long, freezing winters, stunning glaciers, and fishing industry, but in many ways, it remains a frozen mystery to much of the world.

Part of that mystique is because it's been difficult for some tourists to travel to, except by cruise ship or lengthy plane rides. A new international airport is making the country more accessible, including to US residents.

Marianne A. Stenbaek, a professor of cultural studies at McGill University who studies Greenlandic art and literature, described Greenland as a "modern society with a traditional touch." That's because Denmark colonized it hundreds of years ago, but aspects of its Inuit traditions remain.

From its arts to its cuisine, Greenland has a culture all its own.

Greenland is located between Canada and Iceland, with much of the country above the Arctic Circle.

A map showing Greenland's critical minerals.Graphic by Jonathan WALTER and Valentina BRESCHI / AFP via Getty Images

The country is a little bigger than Mexico. It's also much colder. About 80% of Greenland's 836,330 square miles are buried in snow and ice. An enormous national park, the world's largest, covers much of the northeast.

The island has long made it of interest to many other countries for military purposes and as a source of natural resources, from rare minerals to natural gas and oil.

But to Greenlanders, it's simply home.

Greenland's first humans arrived over 4,000 years ago.

An 18th-century drawing of Greenland.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Pre-Inuit groups, including members of the Saqqaq culture, came to the island around 2,500 BCE via Canada. They settled in northern, western, and southeastern Greenland. Today's Greenland Inuit population is descended from the Thule people, who moved into the country's north from Alaska through Canada around 1,000 years ago.




Between 985 and roughly 1450 CE, Vikings lived and then died out in Western Greenland. Erik the Red was the one who called the icy island Greenland. In Greenlandic, its name is Kalaallit Nunaat.

Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede established a settlement in what's now Nuuk, Greenland's capital, in 1721. Over the centuries, Denmark's culture profoundly changed the country.

Greenland remained a Danish colony until 1953 and became an autonomous territory in 1979. It has its own parliament, known as the Inatsisartut.

While the country self-governs its domestic matters, Denmark retains jurisdiction over defense and foreign affairs.




More people live in Ames, Iowa, than in all of Greenland.

Customers leave a shop in western Greenland in 2007.REUTERS/Bob Strong

Around 56,000 people make Greenland their home.

Just under 90% are Inuit, though most also have some European ancestry, according to genetic testing published by the American Society of Human Genetics in 2015. Danish people make up the rest of the population. Most live in coastal cities or communities.

Residents speak Greenlandic and Danish.

Politician Aki-Matilda Hoeegh-Dam speaks Greenlandic at the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen in 2024.LISELOTTE SABROE/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

Kalaallisut, also known as Greenlandic, is an Inuit language and is the official language of the country. It's widely spoken, though some groups in the east speak Tunumiit, according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.

Most residents also speak Danish, which is taught as a second language in schools.

Fishing is the country's biggest industry.

The Halibut Greenland fish processing center in 2025.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The population has long depended on fishing for their livelihoods. However, it's not enough to support the entire country. Denmark heavily supplements its budget with about $511 million annually, according to The BBC.

"The economy has been difficult," Stenbaek said. Tourism and the country's natural resources may be its future.

Cruise ships stop by in the summer, but airports are opening around the country, too.

The cruise ship Sea Venture arrives in Ilulissat, Greenland in 2022.ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images

Whether they're hoping to spot narwhals or want to glimpse glaciers, nature-loving tourists are drawn to Greenland.




For a long time, it was difficult to get to the island by plane. Nuuk only opened its international airport in November 2024. Before that, only a few airports had runways long enough to land large jets.

Ilulissat, which has an ice fjord on UNESCO's World Heritage list, and Qaqortoq are also getting international airports, Reuters reported. Later this year, Americans will be able to hop on a direct flight from New York to Nuuk for the first time.

To get ready for the surge of tourists, some residents are buying snowmobiles to rent out, The New York Times reported. New hotels are opening, too.

Rich in both rare earth minerals and wildlife, Greenland is divided on what to do.

Euhedral quartz crystals and cryolite fill a cavity in Greenland.Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Greenland has a history of mining cryolite, which is used in aluminum smelting. A recent documentary, "The White Gold of Greenland," claimed that for over 100 years, Danish mining companies extracted billions worth of the mineral, and Greenland reaped very little of the benefit, Variety reported.

That's not a history it would want to repeat if it taps its deposits of uranium, gold, natural gas, lithium, and other resources. While some see mining as an opportunity to enrich the country, others have concerns.

"Greenlanders are very hesitant about many aspects of mining because it impacts the nature so much," Stenbaek said.

There are also worries about how it could affect the fishing industry, while residents in Narsaq are concerned about their health if a company moves forward with mining radioactive uranium at a nearby proposed site, The Guardian reported.

Colonialism turned some aspects of Greenland Scandinavian while also stamping out some of its Inuit culture.

Denmark's King Frederik and Queen Mary visit the village of Qassiarsuk in Greenland in 2024.Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix/via Reuters

Danish culture is visible in Greenland's healthcare system, educational institutions, and government. "To that extent, it has had a huge impact," Stenbaek said. At the same time, authorities contributed to the loss of many aspects of the Inuits' way of life.

Between the 1950s and '70s, the Danish government forced Inuit populations to relocate from smaller settlements and communities to cities, Reuters reported. During this time, doctors implanted IUDs in thousands of Inuit girls and women, sometimes without their consent, The BBC reported. Denmark is investigating the matter and has offered counseling to those affected, AP reported last year.

Members of the Inuit community were also pressured to give up their culture and language.

"We were told to act more Danish, to speak Danish, if we wanted to be something," Nadja Arnaaraq Kreutzmann, a Nuuk resident, recently told Reuters.

Some Inuits are preserving and reclaiming their culture.

Greenlandic goldsmith Nadja Arnaaraq Kreutzmann works on a ring in her studio in Nuuk, Greenland, in 2025.Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

From sewing national costumes to making jewelry to carving animal tusks, Inuit people in Greenland are finding ways to continue traditional practices.

"I'm concerned if we do not give the old traditions to younger people, it'll die out within 35 years," Greenlander Vera Mølgaard told National Geographic.

Qupanuk Olsen, a new member of Greenland's Parliament, has spent over five years gaining more than 300,000 Instagram followers by highlighting the country's food and traditions.

Most Greenlanders are Lutheran, but Inuit religious practices remain.

Salik Schmidt and Malu Schmidt hold their daughter as they pose for a photo during their wedding at the Church of our Savior in Nuuk, Greenland in 2025.AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti

Some estimates put Greenland's Lutheran population at 90%, heavily influenced by Hans Egede, the missionary who came to the island in 1721. His statue stands in Nuuk, and some want it removed, saying it's a symbol of the start of colonization, the AP reported.

Many Greenlanders incorporate traditional religious practices into their services, Stenbaek said. They also sing hymns in Greenlandic, she said.

About 15,000 people live in Nuuk, Greenland's capital and biggest city.

Houses covered by snow on the coast of a sea inlet of Nuuk, Greenland, in 2025.AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

The city's architecture is Scandinavian, but its artwork incorporates Inuit tales, according to Lonely Planet. That duality is Nuuk in a nutshell.

"It's very much, in many ways, like a modern Scandinavian city," Stenbaek said. "And at the same time, the Greenlandic culture, the traditional culture, is still there."

There are plenty of cafés, restaurants, and shopping for residents and tourists to visit.

A more traditional way of life survives in smaller communities.

The village of Attu in Greenland in 2024.IDA MARIE ODGAARD/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

Small settlements remain along the west and east coasts, Stenbaek said. Some have fewer than 100 people.

"They live very much like they would have lived 100 years ago," Stenbaek said. That means relying on fishing and other traditional knowledge to survive.

When there are no roads, residents use boats, sleds, and helicopters to get around.

An Air Greenland passenger helicopter in 2009.Reuters/Bob Strong

In the more remote areas of the country, it's not always easy to get from place to place.

"If you have to go from settlement to settlement, it's either by boat or dog sleigh or skiing," Stenbaek said.

If the water is too icy for boats, Greenlanders might have to jump in a helicopter. There are dog sled races in Uummannaq, but it's also a practical mode of transportation in the snowy weather. The same goes for snowmobiles.

Greenland has polar nights and the midnight sun.

The northern lights appear over homes in Nuuk, Greenland, in 2025.AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti

Far north regions experience polar nights in the winter, when the sun doesn't rise above the horizon. The opposite happens in the summer, when Greenland gets nonstop daylight for a couple of months.

Both are significant to Greenlanders.

Since the sun is not visible in the winter, when spring comes it brings life back," photographer Inuuteq Storch told The Guardian in 2024. "That time of total darkness is very spiritual."

Weather rules Greenlanders' worlds.

Sisters Tukummeq and Eva-Vera in Nuuk, Greenland, in 2025.Marko Djurica/REUTERS

Greenland is a maritime culture, according to Stenbaek. "Everything depends on ice and water," she said.

In some parts of the country, winters can last through April. The temperatures can be frigid, with some regions getting down to -30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Summers in northern towns are still chilly, averaging around 41 degrees Fahrenheit, per The Guardian. Temperatures are getting warmer, though.

Lots of Greenlanders read through those long, dark nights.

Ebbe Volquardsen, a professor at the University of Nuuk, in 2017.Julia Wäschenbach/picture alliance via Getty Images

Greenland has a very literary culture, Stenbaek said. "It's an old tradition that goes back 100 years," she said. It's long been a good way to pass a polar night. Local authors are published in both Greenlandic and Danish.

There are plenty of other types of Greenlandic art, too, including theater, sculpture, and music.

"Greenlanders are very artistic," Stenbaek said.

Locals love to get outdoors, too.

A cross-country skier outside of Nuuk, Greenland, in 2025.ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images

Plenty of Greenlanders' pastimes involve braving the cold.

"Many of them are connected directly to nature, like fishing, hunting, skiing," Stenbaek said.

Greenland is rich in biodiversity.

A southeast Greenland polar bear on a glacier in 2016.Thomas W. Johansen/NASA Oceans Melting Greenland/Handout via Reuters

The snowy landscape and arctic waters surrounding the island are habitats for musk ox, reindeer, seals, polar bears, whales, and dozens of bird species.

Berries, flowers, and cottongrass also grow in some parts of the country.

The Greenland dog is an ancient breed.

A musher walks with his Greenlandic sled dogs in 2025.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Sled dogs aren't just companions. They're often working animals, and have a long history of surviving alongside humans. Greenland's first dogs arrived with the Thule people hundreds of years ago.

The husky-like dogs have thick coats, muscular bodies for pulling sleds, and a digestive system suited to high-fat diets, as reported by Newsweek.

Some dog sled races ban the use of other breeds, according to the Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation.

Lamb, ox, and lots of seafood are all part of Arctic cuisine.

Muskox broth from Koks restaurant in Ilimanaq, Greenland.ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images

Long before there were grocery stores in Greenland, locals survived by hunting and fishing. Since the island doesn't have a lot of plant life, they got their vitamin C from whale skin, The New York Times reported.

Even today, there isn't much farming in Greenland, though people do raise sheep in the south.

While supermarkets sell imported food, like milk and vegetables, they'll also stock local fare, including fish, seal, and whale. Some Greenlanders also supplement their shopping by hunting reindeer, ox, and other animals.

"In Greenland, we have the world's wildest kitchen," chef Inunnguaq Hegelund recently told NPR.

The warming world is already affecting Greenland.

An iceberg melts in Kulusuk, Greenland.AP Photo/John McConnico

As the planet heats up, Greenland has started to melt. Its glaciers are shrinking, and the permafrost is disappearing. In 2016, researchers found that the Greenland ice sheet was losing the equivalent of 110 million Olympic-sized swimming pools of water each year.

"It had an influence on roads and airports and houses when all of a sudden the earth starts to unfreeze," Stenbaek said.

It's started to change animals' migration patterns, and polar bears have had to adapt to a new way of hunting without sea ice.

It's a hotbed of scientific research.

Researchers on the Isunnguata Sermia glacier in Greenland in 2024.Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The US National Science Foundation has been studying Greenland's ice sheet for decades.

The country's location also makes it the perfect location to obtain ice cores, test cold-weather engineering, monitor climate change, and study the elusive Greenland shark.

Most Greenlanders want to break away from Denmark.

People voting during the general election in Nuuk, Greenland in 2025.Marko Djurica/Reuters

Over the years, Greenland has become increasingly independent from Denmark. In 2008, it voted for a referendum granting them more autonomy. Many want to go even further and become completely independent from the Danish kingdom.

About 80% of Greenlanders support the move, according to recent polling. Yet one longtime backer of the movement has recently become a bit more hesitant.

Aqqaluk Lynge is the former president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, a nongovernmental organization representing Inuit people in several countries. He recently told NPR that he now supports Greenland staying tied to Denmark because "if Greenland secedes from Denmark, it will be taken by United States."

"This is surprising because Aqqaluk used to be head of much of the independence movement," Stenbaek said.

Some want to stay independent from the US, too.

A protester in Nuuk, Greenland, in 2025.CHRISTIAN KLINDT SOELBECK/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to buy Greenland. In a recent speech to the US Congress, he said that if Greenland chose to join, "we welcome you into the United States of America."

It may be one of the reasons the Democratic party, which advocates for a slow approach to independence, won in recent elections, Stenbaek said. The majority of Greenlanders, 85%, according to a recent opinion poll, don't want to become part of the US.

"Greenlanders want to remain Greenlandic," Stenbaek said.

She said she thought it was important for Greenland to strengthen connections with other countries, Canada in particular. They have a lot in common in terms of environmental concerns and large Inuit populations, she said.

"Both are Arctic countries," she said. "They would be quite strong."

The US Occupation of Greenland Began Last Night

by Jan Oberg / March 26th, 2025

Preserve this video of street-boy demeanor Trump Regime arrogance. It can be interpreted as an indeed creative declaration of war on Denmark/Greenland.

Listen carefully to the end. It will be historic. Interestingly, if you can not see it embedded here from my homepage (see below). But just click this link to see it on YouTube.

Vice-president JD Vance’s 59 seconds speech about the “fun” in Greenland that he wants to join in marks the beginning of an occupation of Greenland by that US, which Denmark’s governments since 1948 have blindly been submissive to, supported politically and militarily no matter its illegal interventions and wars, CIA worldwide, regime changes, 650 foreign bases, mass killings, genocide, country-destruction, NATO militarism and economic exploitation.

In sum, the most violent and war-addicted country on earth for more than half a century.

He invents a series of “threats” from many other countries against Greenland (and the US…). He scolds Copenhagen for having ignored Greenland’s security for far too long, and he twice elevates Greenland to a world security issue and insists that only the US can make it secure and thereby secure “the entire world.”

For equally long, some of us argued – warned – that the US was not that good – and Russia and China were not that bad. That our world was not a black-and-white world. But that was too much of an intellectual challenge. Over time, facts, analyses, conflict analysis, objective threat analyses based upon decent intelligence as well as national and international law, the UN, diplomacy – not to mention peace-making – were treated as petty issues and thrown overboard.

The Danish foreign policy kakistocracy has finally entered a situation in which they will feel what it means to be blind friends of the Evil Empire and opportunistically never prepare for the obvious: That that empire would ruthlessly pursue only its own interests and humiliate its friends (except Israel) and treat them like dirt. It allegedly gave them “protection”…

Like the rest of Europe, Denmark will now face two Cold Wars for decades ahead – one with Russia and one with the US – and in best Frederiksen-Leyden-Kallas-style, militarise itself to death. You don’t have to be a prophet to see that, like “you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

The tragedy – which is now also Sweden’s and Finland’s – is that it could all have been avoided.

By independent, free thinking and research, by listening and prudent decision-makers, not servants listening only to His Master’s Voice.

Europe will now be dragged down with the decline and fall of the US/Western world. What? Oh yes, the Trump Regime will not get away with all its crystal-clear extremist imperialism, its megalomania and delusional ways: It will meet increasing worldwide resistance and fall – “one way or the other” as Trump said about getting Greenland.

I fear the price to be paid with Trump in his undoubtedly golden bunker fiddling with the red button when he hears someone say, Mr President, it is all over. It’s all over.

Do you?

Jan Oberg is a peace researcher, art photographer, and Director of The Transnational (TFF) where this article first appeared. Reach him at: oberg@transnational.org. Read other articles by Jan.