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Usha Vance, US officials to visit Greenland amid Donald Trump’s talk of annexation
WASHINGTON ― Second lady Usha Vance will visit Greenland on Thursday alongside U.S. officials as President Donald Trump continues to express his desire for America to acquire the semiautonomous Danish territory.
The White House on Sunday announced the high-profile trip, saying Vance ‒ wife of Vice President JD Vance ‒ will travel with her son and a U.S. delegation to visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race.
“Ms. Vance and the delegation are excited to witness this monumental race and celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity,” the White House said.
More: Trump says US will acquire Greenland ‘one way or the other’ in presidential address
Vance and the delegation are set to return to the U.S. on Saturday.
JD Vance (L) stands with his wife Usha Vance as they take part in a tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site in Dachau, southern Germany, on February 13, 2025.
As part of the trip, White House national security advisor Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will visit a U.S. military base in Greenland, Reuters reported.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has talked repeatedly about the U.S. taking over Greenland, which is rich with minerals and holds a key position along shipping routes.
More: ‘We want to be Greenlanders’: Slow independence party wins vote, but pro-US party gains
“We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it,” Trump said earlier this month during his joint address to Congress.
He added in an aside: “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
More recently, Trump told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte during an Oval Office meeting that the U.S. needs control of Greenland. “I think that will happen,” Trump told reporters on the prospect of annexation.
A person who did not want to provide his name protests in front of the American Consulate about what he said is ‘the threat of the possibility of the annexation of Greenland by America’ on March 14, 2025 in Nuuk, Greenland.
Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has said repeatedly Greenland is not for sale.
Frederiksen, in a written statement on Vance’s visit, said Denmark wants to cooperate with the U.S., but it should be cooperation based on “the fundamental rules of sovereignty.”
“This is something we take seriously,” she said, adding that the dialogue with the U.S. regarding Greenland would take place in close coordination with the Danish government and the future Greenlandic government.
In January, Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland’s capital city of Nuuk, where the president’s son was accompanied by friend and conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Trump Jr. shot video content for his podcast and did not meet with government officials in Greenland, a spokesman said at the time.
In a push to expand America’s footprint, Trump has also said he want the U.S. to take control of the Panama control and pushed the far-fetched idea of Canada joining the U.S. as the 51st state. Leaders of Panama and Canada have rejected Trump’s suggestions.
Contributing: Reuters.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Usha Vance to visit Greenland as Trump talks annexation