Vance in Greenland: 'We do not think military force is ever going to be necessary'

Vice President Vance in a speech from a U.S. base in Greenland said Friday the U.S. is not likely to use military force in President Trump’s pursuit of taking over the territory.

Vance also said the U.S. respects Greenland’s sovereignty, despite Trump’s repeated comments that America would take ownership of the Arctic island away from Denmark.

"We do not think military force is ever going to be necessary," Vance said in response to a reporter's question on whether there are military plans to take over the island. 

“What we think is going to happen is that the Greenlanders are going to choose, through self determination, to become independent of Denmark, and then we're going to have conversations with the people of Greenland from there.”

Vance made his remarks from the Pituffik Space Base, an American military installation that is a critical front line in missile defense, missile warning and space surveillance. It is located in the northwestern part of Greenland.

Trump has repeatedly discussed acquiring Greenland, arguing it would strengthen U.S. security and combat threats ranging from Russia’s access to the Arctic to China’s attempts to make inroads in the region. 

“We need Greenland for international security. We have to have Greenland,” Trump said in remarks from the White House on Friday.

Vance shifted attention to Denmark’s responsibility for Greenland’s security, saying that the Danes “have not done their job in keeping this area safe.”

Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, which criticized Vance's trip to the island and has repeatedly said the territory is not for sale.

Vance said the U.S. had no plans to expand its military presence on the island and suggested that any change in security in Greenland would be done in consultation with its capital Nuuk. 

“We hope that they choose to partner with the United States because we're the only nation on earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security,” he said. 

The March election victory of Greenland’s Demokraatit party, which advocates a long-road toward independence, signals the island’s population is not looking to break with Denmark anytime soon. 

And attitudes toward the U.S. among Greenland’s population of 57,000 are at a nadir.

The Pituffik visit was arranged after the White House decided to cancel a “heritage” tour of the island for second lady Usha Vance, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright amid intense backlash from officials in Nuuk and Copenhagen — and an apparent cold shoulder from Greenlanders. 

Denmark Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called it a “positive” decision for the U.S. to cancel the tour among Greenlandic society and said there was no problem with having American officials visit the Pituffik base. 

Vance’s trip to northern Greenland came while he is under intense scrutiny for his participation in a text chain on commercial messaging app Signal in which officials discussed sensitive information about a planned military strike in Yemen. The group chat inadvertently included a journalist, and has been widely criticized for putting sensitive and perhaps classified information about the military strike at risk.

Vance said there will be an update “soon” on the Trump administration’s findings of an internal investigation into the chat but, unprompted, said that no one would be fired for participation in the chat. 

“President Trump has said on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday, and I'm the vice president saying it here on Friday, we are standing behind our entire national security team,” he said.

Vance’s Greenland trip provided a rare opportunity to spotlight the American presence, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in one of the harshest environments on the planet for American service members. 

The temperature was minus 3 degrees Fahrenheit when the U.S. officials landed at Pituffik, and Vance expressed surprise at the chill when joining U.S. Space Force Guardians for lunch. 

“It’s cold as s‑‑‑ here. Nobody told me,” he said.

Vance received a military briefing on Arctic security but also learned that service members participate in a traditional polar plunge, diving into the Arctic waters where the temperature never reaches above 41 degrees and are awarded a “certificate for stupidity.” 

“And let it be known that this task of questionable sanity was accomplished despite near freezing temperatures, the threat of collapsing icebergs and lusty seals,” Vance said. 

Alex Gangitano contributed to this report.