Second lady Usha Vance will visit Greenland later this week, the White House announced Sunday, the most high-profile visit yet as the Trump administration eyes the Danish territory.
The second lady has already made a number of overseas trips, having visited Paris in February and India earlier this month.
According to the White House, Vance will visit “historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race.” She is set to arrive on Thursday and return on Saturday.
Her son will join her on the trip, the White House said, along with a U.S. delegation.
National security adviser Mike Waltz will also travel to Greenland, a source familiar confirmed to CBS News. Waltz will visit the Pituffik Space Base, the source said.
President Trump first expressed interest in taking control of Greenland, which is currently a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, during his first administration. He has ramped up the effort since taking office two months ago. In his first speech before a joint session of Congress of his second term, Mr. Trump vowed that “we’re going to get it.”
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“We need Greenland for national security and even international security,” the president said during his address on March 4. “I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it.”
Greenland’s prime minister, Mute Egede, responded, saying “We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken.”
Egede said Mr. Trump was, “very unpredictable, in such a way that people feel insecure.” In an election that was held on March 11 — after Mr. Trump’s speech — Egede’s opposition won, although the party still needs to form a coalition government.
“Greenland needs us to stand together in a time of great interest from outside,” Democratic party leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen told local media, according to BBC News. “There is a need for unity, so we will enter into negotiations with everyone.”
Waltz said in January that the talks about Greenland are “not just about Greenland, this is about the Arctic.”
“You have Russia that is trying to become king of the Arctic with 60 plus icebreakers, some of them nuclear powered,” Waltz said in January. “You know how many we have? We have two and one just caught on fire. This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources.”
Mr. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. visited in January before the president took office. Ahead of his visit, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Greenland is not for sale, but she said she would continue to welcome American interest and investment.
