Vance’s Day Out in Greenland

If there’s one thing to be admired about the Americans, it’s their boundless enthusiasm for making friends by stomping about the globe like a bull in a china shop. Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance’s recent jaunt to Greenland was no exception—a masterclass in condescension wrapped up in rhetoric about security and investment. There he was, shivering away in -19°C temperatures, declaring to all and sundry that Greenland ought to be under the protective, benevolent umbrella of the United States. Because clearly, if a country isn’t fawning over Washington’s military hardware, it must be in grave danger.

The Diplomatic Sideshow

Vice President Vance’s arrival at the U.S. military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland was less of a diplomatic mission and more of a performance in imperial posturing. Flanked by a cohort of senior U.S. officials, including Donald Trump’s ever-faithful national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and Utah Senator Mike Lee, Vance wasted no time in criticising Denmark’s handling of Greenland.

“Our message to Denmark is very simple: you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance proclaimed with the confidence of a man convinced of his own altruism. According to him, Denmark has grossly neglected the security and welfare of Greenland, which, conveniently, the United States would be more than happy to rectify—by asserting its own control, of course.

America’s Arctic Manifest Destiny

What followed was a series of remarks so nakedly imperialistic they could have been lifted from a 19th-century colonial playbook. Vance emphasised that Greenland would be far safer under the United States’s ‘security umbrella’, accusing Denmark of failing to protect the Arctic island from perceived threats posed by China and Russia. With a tone of almost paternal disappointment, he suggested that Greenland would flourish under American oversight, as though the people of Greenland were incapable of managing their own affairs.

The vice-president’s remarks were part of a broader theme of pressuring Denmark and Greenland to cede control of the territory’s defence and infrastructure to the United States. Unsurprisingly, his speech was peppered with the usual American anxieties about ‘Chinese and Russian ships all over the place’, as though these foreign vessels were lurking just beyond the icy shores of Greenland, ready to pounce.

Greenland’s Resounding Rebuff

The Greenlandic leadership, however, was not having any of it. Just hours before Vance’s arrival, political leaders in Nuuk formed a broad four-party coalition government, presenting a united front in response to American overreach. The coalition agreement, signed by four of the territory’s five parties, made its position abundantly clear: “Greenland belongs to us.”

Denmark, too, has pushed back against American pressure, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen condemning Vance’s unsolicited visit as ‘unacceptable’. Far from cowing under U.S. demands, Denmark and Greenland have instead demonstrated a strengthened resolve to assert their own sovereignty.

The Irony of It All

Vance’s blusterous pronouncements of goodwill and security ring especially hollow when viewed against the backdrop of Greenland’s own aspirations for greater autonomy. The coalition agreement plainly states that Greenland aims to increase its self-determination, crafting a roadmap to reclaim responsibilities still held by Denmark.

The irony is rich. Here is the United States, supposedly the champion of democracy and freedom, practically demanding that Greenland switch allegiances simply because Washington deems Denmark’s governance unsatisfactory. The arrogance is almost impressive in its audacity.

An Arctic Shoulder

As Vice President Vance departed the icy plains of Greenland, one imagines he was left somewhat puzzled as to why his overtures weren’t met with open arms. Perhaps, just perhaps, the Greenlanders and Danes are rather tired of being dictated to by foreign powers masquerading their interests as altruism.

What Vance’s ‘day out’ in Greenland has truly achieved is to galvanise the island’s leaders against American interference. Whether the United States will take the hint remains to be seen. But if history is anything to go by, the icy reception Vance received will likely be met with yet more stubborn insistence from Washington.