US VICE PRESIDENT JD Vance said he would join his wife Usha on a trip on Friday to Greenland, adding to pressure on the autonomous Danish territory that Donald Trump wants to take over.

Vance, who has become Trump’s attack dog on foreign policy matters, said he would visit US Space Force members based there but also “check out what’s going on with the security” of Greenland.

His announcement came just hours after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticised the US second lady’s visit as putting “unacceptable pressure” on both the territory and Denmark.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egere has already denounced Usha Vance’s planned visit as “foreign interference”.

The Office of the Second Lady of the US issued a statement today announcing Thursday’s trip, saying the delegation would be visiting historical sites, learning about Greenland’s culture and attending its national dog sled race.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright will also be joining the delegation.

“It should be said clearly that our integrity and democracy must be respected without foreign interference,” Egede said, adding that this week’s visit “cannot be seen as just a private visit”.

“There was so much excitement around Usha’s visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided that I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I’m going to join her,” Vance said in a video on Tuesday.

The White House later announced that Usha Vance’s previously announced schedule – which included a visit to Greenland’s national dogsled race – had been canceled.

She would now join her husband at the Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland, it said.

Since returning to power in January, Trump has insisted he wants the United States to take over Greenland for national security purposes and has refused to rule out the use of force.

In his video announcement, Vance said other countries sought to use the territory to “threaten the United States, to threaten Canada, and, of course, to threaten the people of Greenland.”

Looking forward to visiting Greenland on Friday!🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/p3HslD3hhP

— JD Vance (@JDVance) March 25, 2025

Trump has also recently talked about annexing Canada, saying it should become the “51st state” of the United States.

“Speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland,” added Vance.

Both US and Danish leaders had “ignored Greenland for far too long” and that “we think we can take things in a different direction,” he added.

According to Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz will also visit Greenland this week, while US media have reported that Energy Secretary Chris Wright will travel there as well.

The dogsled race that Usha Vance had previously been due to visit has been largely sponsored by the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenlandic media reported.

The announcement of her trip on Monday angered Danish and Greenlandic politicians.

“You can’t organise a private visit with official representatives of another country,” Frederiksen told reporters.

The visit comes at a time of political flux in Greenland, where parties are still negotiating to form a new coalition government following a March 11 election.

A self-governing Danish territory which is seeking to emancipate itself from Copenhagen, Greenland holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, although oil and uranium exploration are banned.

It is also strategically located between North America and Europe at a time of rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up due to climate change.