On Friday, Vice President JD Vance visited a small American military outpost in Greenland, far away from Greenlanders who had made their displeasure at the visit exceedingly clear. From his remote location, Vance proceeded to insult our NATO ally Denmark.
“Denmark hasn’t done a good job at keeping Greenland safe,” Vance saidwhich was patently absurd on its face.
Has anyone invaded Greenland in decades? Of course not. And the American military presence on the island, part of an array of early-warning radars against a Russian nuclear attack, is the reason why.
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Denmark, which administers the partially autonomous island, is a member of NATO, and it is through that alliance’s collective defense that Greenland has been kept safe. Indeed, the American presence on Greenland exists precisely because Denmark allowed that presence. So … how is Denmark not keeping it safe?
“We know that too often our allies in Europe have not kept pace, they haven’t kept pace with military spending and Denmark has not kept pace in devoting the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view, to keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of very aggressive incursions from Russia, China and other nations with interest in this area,” Vance added.
What hostile and “aggressive incursions” have Russia and China made?
If he’s talking about the melting polar icecaps and running new shipping routes near the arctic, congratulations—it is Republican policy denying the existence of global climate change that has made that possible. And yet it is Canada and the Nordic countries that have the polar icebreaker capabilities to assert military dominance in the region—not the United States. That’s why the U.S. signed a treaty with Canada and Finland late last year to bolster U.S. icebreaker constructionanother treaty President Donald Trump may soon shred.
As for Russia, it’s rich hearing Vance complain about a country he and Trump routinely defend and support. That includes undermining Ukraine as it repels a Russian invasion, and arguing against seizing Russian assets to pay for Ukrainian defense and reconstruction.
As financier Bill Browder, a prominent Russia critic, put it on X: “When I worked on the Magnitsky Act in 2012, it passed the Senate 92-4. I joked afterwards that ‘there was no pro Putin torture and murder lobby in Washington’. I’m afraid to say that times have changed. Senator JD Vance is now parroting Putin’s exact words claiming that seizing Russian frozen assets would lead to catastrophe. Not only is he plain wrong, but we have to question his motivations.”
If Greenland wants protection against Russia, it better run far, far away from Vance and Trump.
Vance’s insults are particularly egregious since Denmark has been a willing participant in recent U.S. wars in the Middle East. In Afghanistan, over 40 Danish soldiers died in combat, which is a lot for a nation of about 6 million. Denmark also deployed to Iraq—a war that the United States started based on lies—and suffered losses there as well.
Ultimately, as a NATO ally, Denmark has been open to allowing a greater American military presence in Greenland. There appears to be nothing stopping the NATO alliance, or the United States individually, from building up a presence in Greenland.
“We respect that the United States needs a greater military presence in Greenland, as Vice President Vance mentioned this evening,” said Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on X. “We, Denmark and Greenland, are very much open to discussing this with you.”
Of course, this isn’t about defending Greenland. It’s about American appropriation of the island’s mineral wealth, with much of it being unlocked because of climate change.
Denmark doesn’t want the U.S. to take over Greenland, but more importantly, Greenlanders don’t want it. An overwhelming 85% oppose American annexation. Only 6% support it. Americans, too, oppose it overwhelmingly. A Fox News poll found that only 26% of U.S. registered voters support Greenland annexation, while 70% oppose it, including 44% of Republicans.
And Republicans really shouldn’t want Greenland—or Canada—to join the U.S. They are liberal, pro-social spending countries that would make it exceedingly difficult for Republicans to win national elections and compete in Congress (unless both places joined as U.S. territories).
Greenland doesn’t need the U.S. for its safety, existing treaty obligations (and the U.S. military presence on the island) already protect it. And Greenlanders surely don’t want to lose their free health care. (Same goes for Canada.)
Hell, Denmark has universal health care, free collegeand low income inequality. It’s rated as the second-safest country in the world. And—this is a good one—the conservative Heritage Foundation, authors of the authoritarian Project 2025 playbook, gives Denmark the seventh-highest economic freedom score on the planet. The U.S. ranks 27th. It’s a pro-business socialist utopia!
As a result, Danes are the second-happiest people in the worldaccording to Gallup. The U.S. is way back at 24.
But, come to think of it, I am warming to the idea of Greenland annexing the United States. We would benefit from importing values like investing in our people’s welfare.
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