White House: Usha Vance Was Invited to Greenland

It is not quite on the level of the famed Hamlet quote "something is rotten in the state of Denmark," but White House officials are rejecting mainstream media narratives that second lady Usha Vance was not welcome by officials in Greenland.

Usha Vance, wife of Vice President J.D. Vance, was, indeed, invited to attend Greenland's National Dogsled Race and wave the flag opening the event, according to the second lady's Communications Director Nikki Reeves.

"The second lady received multiple invitations for her attendance to the Greenland National Dogsled Race," Reeves shared with Newsmax in a statement Thursday. "Chairman Mikkel Jeremiassen of the Dogsledding Association KNQK Qimussersauq was excited to welcome the second lady and offered for her to waive the flag opening the race, per conversations between the U.S. Consulate and event organizers."

Denmark, which has been openly critical of President Donald Trump's offering the Greenland people an opportunity to become Americans, had called Usha Vance's planned visit to the dog-sled race "unacceptable pressure" on the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Dogsledding Association sponsor Thomas Dans rejected Denmark's claims of a pressure campaign, saying Usha Vance was only coming because she was indeed invited.

"In early March, we invited the second lady, as well as other senior administration officials to come with us to experience this unique and exciting cultural event," he wrote in a lengthy statement posted to X. "We were tremendously excited when we heard that the second lady (and her young son!) were interested in learning about Greenland, its culture, people, and history.

"We can never forget that the futures of both Greenland and the USA are built upon the imaginations, dreams and educations of our children, guided by the love and concern of their parents."

Denmark Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen was on the defensive Thursday morning, saying only that Denmark will dictate Greenland's fate as Trump has sought to bridge close ties to Greenland in the name of defense and freedom.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said America not only respects Greenlanders' right to determine their own future, but is also committed to keeping Greenland safe.

Amid the back-and-forth, while calling gracious American diplomacy "unacceptable pressure," Denmark has hailed the changing of plans of the Usha Vance delegation's trip to the island nation.

J. D. Vance has since joined his family on the trip, he announced earlier this week.

The delegation will visit American Guardians at the Pituffik Space Base on the island's northwest coast, which the White House calls "an important opportunity to meet the brave service-members serving our country at the northernmost frontier of civilization."

While there, the Vances will receive a briefing on Arctic security issues and meet with U.S. servicemembers. Pituffik Space Base is the Department of Defense's northernmost installation. The Base, which is operated by the United States Space Force's 821st Space Base Group, supports missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance missions.

"Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance are proud to visit the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland this Friday," Vance press secretary Taylor Van Kirk told Newsmax in a statement. "As the vice president has said, previous U.S. leaders have neglected Arctic security, while Greenland's Danish rulers have neglected their security obligations to the island.

"The security of Greenland is critical in ensuring the security of the rest of the world, and the vice president looks forward to learning more about the island."

Years before his Trump's latest urging for Greenland to break off from Denmark's control, he sought to bolster Arctic security by ordering the construction of a formidable new icebreaker fleet and reopening a new consulate in Nuuk.

Also, Trump created the Space Force in 2019, in part because our adversaries were increasingly weaponizing and encroaching on American interests in Earth's orbit. Russia and China have taken aggressive steps to build up their presence in the Arctic, including investing in icebreakers, new nuclear submarines, and rare earth minerals.