JD Vance Hammers Denmark During Speech Contemplating Annexation in Greenland: ‘You Have Not Done a Good Job’
Vice President JD Vance hammered Denmark while visiting Greenland on Friday, accusing the NATO ally of not doing enough to secure Greenland’s infrastructure. Vance’s visit comes as President Donald Trump continues to push for the U.S. to absorb Greenland, despite it being an independent Danish territory.
“When I pointed out a couple of weeks ago that in some ways, with all due respect to our Danish allies, they had not kept pace. There was a lot of criticism from Denmark, a lot attacks at the Trump administration, at the president, at me, at others in our administration for saying the obvious, which is that Denmark hasn’t done a good job at keeping Greenland safe,” Vance said in his fiery remarks at Pituffik Space Base, with U.S. soldiers standing behind him.
“And one of the things I heard was, well, what about the many Danes who lost their lives in the war on terror fighting alongside the United States? Well, look, we obviously honor the sacrifice of our Danish friends in the war on terror twenty years ago, just as, for example, the French honor the sacrifices of Americans in Normandy eighty years ago,” Vance continued, adding:
But recognizing that there are important security partnerships in the past does not mean that we can’t have disagreements with allies in the present about how to preserve our shared security for the future. And that’s what this is about. There is no amount of bullying, no amount of obfuscating, no amount of confusing the issue. Our message to Denmark is very simple. You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.
You’ve underinvested in the of Greenland and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change and because it hasn’t changed this is why President Trump’s policy in Greenland is what it is.
It’s consistent with the first Trump administration, where you saw significant investments in Arctic security and it will continue over the next four years under President Trump’s leadership.
Vance also warned that Russia and China have “taken greater and greater interest in this base” as he blamed Denmark for not doing enough.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz spoke ahead of Vance and said that Trump is “absolutely serious” about Arctic security, adding, “This is about shipping lanes, energy, fisheries.”
Watch the clip above via MSNBC.
