Veep JD Vance on Sunday refrained from setting expectations too high about President Trump’s chances of usurping Greenland from Denmark, although he still called it “possible” and dismissed European opposition.
Trump, 78, had set his sights on acquiring the icy island since his first administration and has rekindled those aspirations in recent weeks. Vance, 40, stressed Sunday that the territory is important for US security.
“I think it’s possible,” Vance added to Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” when asked about whether the US will acquire Greenland.
“It’s really important to our national security. There are sea lanes there that the Chinese use, that the Russians use,” Vance said. “Frankly, Denmark, which controls Greenland, [is] not doing its job, and it’s not being a good ally.”
Denmark has owned Greenland since the 18th century, though the territory, with a population of about 57,000, is autonomously governed. The US has a facility in Greenland named Pituffik Space Base, also known as Thule Air Base.
Trump and others believe that as the Arctic Ocean begins to melt over time, opening new ocean pathways, Greenland will become more valuable.
“How are we going to solve that problem, solve our own national security?” Vance said. “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 America’s citizens first.”
European leaders have roundly denounced Trump’s aspirations to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally.
But last month, Trump even refused to rule out the use of military force or other coercive means such as tariffs to acquire Greenland.
Vance also took note of the burgeoning independence movement in Greenland, observing that many citizens there aren’t “actually happy with [the] Danish government.
“They have got an incredibly bountiful country that the Danes aren’t letting them develop and explore,” Vance said. “Of course, Donald Trump would take a different approach if he was the leader of Greenland.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has repeatedly maintained that Greenland is not for sale despite Trump’s perennial Truth Social musings about getting his hands on it.
The vice president also defended Trump’s objectives of reclaiming the Panama Canal.
“They have violated a core tenet of the agreement,” Vance said, referring to Panama. “When we gave over the Panama Canal to the country of Panama, what we said is, you have to make sure that this canal respects American sovereignty and that you don’t give special benefits to the Chinese.”
The US agreed to give the canal zone to Panama in the 1970s under late former President Jimmy Carter in exchange for the South American country agreeing to keep the key waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans neutral.
Trump has long decried Cater’s decision to relinquish control of the canal, the construction for which was largely funded by the US.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio trekked over to Panama and met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, saying he “made clear that this status quo is unacceptable,” according to a readout from the US.
Mulino later told reporters that Rubio made “no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force.”
Trump has taken a much more forceful posture toward US allies and partners alike relative to that of his predecessors. On Saturday, he ordered 25% across-the-board tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico, as well as a 10% one on China.
