An advance team knocked on doors in Greenland’s capital Nuuk seeking someone who would welcome a visit from second lady Usha Vance, but every single person said no, according to a Danish TV report.
Vice president J.D. Vance joined his wife on the trip after she got a cold shoulder from prospective hosts, according to a report by Denmark's TV 2 that was flagged by The Hill, and the couple's plans shifted from a dogsled race in Sisimiut and meetings with Nuuk locals to a visit to a remote Space Force base.
“The Americans’ charm offensive has failed,” reported TV 2 correspondent Jesper Steinmetz. “They have finally understood what the Greenlanders here in town have been trying to tell them for a little over a week: We don’t want visitors right now.”
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A senior White House official denied the report, saying the couple was happy to visit the ice-bound military base, where temperatures for March typically stay well below zero.
“This is categorically false," that official said. "The Second Lady is proud to visit the Pituffik Space Base with her husband to learn more about arctic security and the great work of the Space Base."
The vice president is expected to attack Denmark, a U.S. ally, during the visit, which comes as president Donald Trump has inflamed international tension over his threats to annex the country's autonomous territory.
Until recently, we could safely rely on the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we liked to work closely,” said Greenland prime minister Múte Bourup Egede earlier this week.
“But that time is over, we have to admit that, because the new American leadership is completely and utterly indifferent to what we have stood together on so far, because now it is only a matter of them taking over our country over our heads,” Egede added.
