The U.S. military announced on Thursday it removed the commander of Greenland's Pituffik base a few days after Vice President JD Vance visited the island and amid the Trump administration's effort to annex the semi-autonomous territory.
The development was announced by chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. He detailed in a statement that Colonel Susannah Meyers was "removed from command by Colonel Kenneth Klock, commander of Space Base Delta 1" for "loss of confidence in her ability to lead."
"Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties," Parnell added in the release. In a social media message accompanying the release, he said that "actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump's agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense."
Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump's agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellATSD) April 11, 2025
⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/ITFeGw0kUf pic.twitter.com/MO68aje1X2
Parnell's publication was responding to an article published by Military.com, which reported that Meyers had sent a message to all personnel at the base distancing herself from criticism of Denmark uttered by Vance during his visit to the island.
"I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the U.S. administration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base," Meyers wrote in a passage of her email. "I commit that, for as long as I am lucky enough to lead this base, all of our flags will fly proudly -- together," the message added.
Vance said during his March visit to the base that "the story of Greenland over the past 20 years when it comes to security is that we've underinvested in the infrastructure."
Vance went on to note that when he initially made similar statements "there was a lot of criticism from Denmark for saying the obvious, which is that Denmark has not done a good job at keeping Greenland safe." He then acknowledged Denmark's past military cooperation with the United States but dismissed its relevance to the current security situation.
"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"
Denmark's Foreign Minister criticized the visit and the remarks. Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a publication that "we agree that status quo in the Arctic is not an option. So let's talk about how we can fix it - together."
The development comes as the Trump administration is reportedly taking a more formal approach toward its goal to annex the island. According to The New York Times. The plan could potentially give bout $10,000 to each Greenland resident. The possibility would seek to replace the $600 million Denmark gives the territory in subsidies every year.
The outlet detailed that the plan already includes several cabinet departments and that the White House's National Security Council has met several times to advance on it, recently sending specific instructions to different offices.
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