On Friday morning, Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, will be traveling to Greenland, as Townhall has been previewing this week. Brief though their trip may be, it will be crucial to national security, and the security of the Arctic region, as they'll visit with American Guardians at the Pituffik Space Base on the island's northwest coast.
Such a visit will involve a briefing on Article security issues, while the Vances meet with U.S. servicemembers at the Department of Defense's northernmost installation. The base is operated by the United States Space Force's 821st Space Base Group. Such a visit comes just days after the vice president, as Madeline covered from on location, visited the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.
For all of the concerns about the second lady's visit to Greenland, President Donald Trump swiftly and aptly responded. The second lady's office has also spoken about how the island planned to welcome her, including with an invitation to Greenland's National Dogsled Race, where she would have waved the flag to open the race.
"The Second Lady received multiple invitations for her attendance to the Greenland National Dogsled Race. Chairman Mikkel Jeremiassen of the Dogsledding Association KNQK Qimussersauq was excited to welcome the Second Lady and offered for her to waive the flag opening the race, per conversations between the U.S. Consulate and event organizers," said Communications Director to the Second Lady Nikki Reeves.
A senior White House official also spoke with Townhall about the trip. "The Vice President and Second Lady are embarking on a historic expedition with their visit to Greenland, where the Vice President will emphasize the importance of bolstering Artic security in places like Pituffik Space Base. Unfortunately, Danish leaders have spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the island to fall into disrepair. Expect the Vice President to emphasize these points as well," the official shared when previewing more about the trip.
In addition to her trip to Greenland, the second lady has been appointed by Trump to sit on the Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees and also led a U.S. delegation to Turin, Italy earlier this month for the Special Olympics.
American Daybreak's Tom Dans, a sponsor of the Dogsledding Association, released a lengthy statement on Tuesday over X when it comes to inviting the second lady.
As his statement, which also spoke positively of American relations with Greenland read in part:
American Daybreak has worked on strengthening U.S. -Greenlandic ties for a long time, including helping to organize the visit of the President's son to Greenland in January. We at American Daybreak are committed to building and strengthening relations between our great countries and peoples.
In January, we identified the Avannaata Qimussersua dogsled race in Sisimiut as an excellent opportunity to highlight Greenlandic culture and traditions.
Since then, we have been in regular contact with the race organizers, including to explore how the United States can sponsor this exciting and important event. Thankfully, the U.S. consulate in Nuuk issued an unconditional and multi-year grant to pay for the transport of the dogsled teams from across Greenland to Sisimiut.
Together with the race, American Daybreak had long planned a possible trip by U.S. cultural, business, and government leader to attend and enjoy the event.
In early March, we invited the Second Lady, as well as other senior Administration officials to come with us to experience this unique and exciting cultural event.
We were tremendously excited when we heard that the Second Lady (and her young son!) were interested in learning about Greenland, its culture, people, and history. We can never forget that the futures of both Greenland and the USA are built upon the imaginations, dreams and educations of our children, guided by the love and concern of their parents.
As a sponsor and supporter of this event I encouraged and invited the Second Lady and other senior Administration officials to attend this monumental race. This visit was always intended to be purely personal in nature and in the spirit of the friendship between our two nations.
American Daybreak, and I personally, were very disappointed by the negative and hostile reaction - fanned by often false press reports -- to the United States supporting Greenland and hoping to learn about its culture, tradition, and people.
These press stories and Greenlandic officials' overreaction are harmful to the strong relationship, based on mutual respect, shared interest, and courtesy, that the United States has long enjoyed with Greenland and hopes to expand upon.
As with our every endeavor, we at American Daybreak are guided by a deep and abiding concern for others. We work in the spirit of Peace and Goodwill, or Pax et Bonum, as it is best expressed.
My own lifelong interest in Greenland started as a young boy from stories told me by my grandpa, an everyday American from New York's Lower East Side. Manuel Dans served in WWII as a US Merchant Mariner aiding in the Defense of Greenland and after the war helping build Thule Air Base, today our nation's Pituffik Space Base.
...
American Daybreak is no longer planning to travel to Greenland for the dogsled race. However, our support for Avannaata Qimussersua remains.
We look forward to returning to Greenland soon and expanding on our work of bringing together Greenlanders and Americans through a host of exciting future initiatives. We welcome others to join us.
Wishing you all an awesome race!!
While Trump has expressed a strong interest in Greenland during his second term, that interest actually began in his first term, as he looked to strengthen American leadership and security across the Arctic region. That included ordering the construction of a formidable new icebreaker fleet and reopening a new consulate in Nuuk. He also created the Space Force in 2019 as he recognized the dangers posed by other world powers such as China and Russia were also looking to become further involved in the region.
Dans' statement referenced his grandfather fighting in World War II, and Greenland indeed played a role, with the United States having a defense agreement with Denmark. Greenland has had a connection to Denmark for centuries, and switched from a colony status into the Danish state in 1953. The Arctic region has long been critical to the United States when it comes to national and economic security, and the security of allies and partners of the United States.
In addition to his response earlier this week, Trump also put out several Truth Socials in early January when his son, Donald Trump, Jr went on a trip to visit the island.
Every single day, here at Townhall, we will stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.