A Greenland tourism business that was due to host second lady Usha Vance has canceled her visit, fearing it would descend into a “media spectacle”.
Donald Trump has made no secret of his ambition to control Greenland, a semi-autonomous region of Denmark – a desire that has sparked anger among Greenlanders and in Copenhagen.
The U.S. Consulate initially reached out to Tupilak Travel in Nuuk ahead of the days-long visit, during which the second lady and one of her children would “immerse themselves” in Greenlandic culture and visit the annual dogsled race.
The White House said on Tuesday that JD Vance would join his wife on the trip – but that the couple would only spend a day there visiting the U.S. Pituffik Space Base, on the northwestern coast.
Reacting to the change, Tupilak Travel issued a sternly-worded statement which read: “When the American consulate called yesterday to ask if the wife of the U.S. Vice President, Usha Vance, could visit our store on Friday, we replied that she was welcome. After all, everyone is welcome in our store.
“However, upon further consideration, we have now informed the consulate that we do not wish to host her visit, as we cannot accept the underlying agenda and do not want to be part of the media spectacle that will inevitably follow,” it read.
“No thanks to [a] nice visit… Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” the statement added.
The cancellation comes after Trump insisted the visit to Greenland is about “friendliness, not provocation.” But the president repeated his assertion that the U.S. could come to control Greenland.
Trump had mused during his first term about buying the world’s largest island, even as Denmark, a Nato ally, insisted it wasn’t for sale.
Vance has previously said Denmark is “not doing its job” with Greenland and “not being a good ally,” and “if that means that we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland that is what President Trump is going to do.
“Because he doesn’t care about what the Europeans scream at us, he cares about putting the interests of American citizens first,” Vance told Fox News.
