COPENHAGEN: Greenlandic leaders criticised a planned trip this week by a high-profile US delegation to the semi-autonomous Danish territory that President Donald Trump has suggested the United States should annex.

The delegation, which will visit a US military base and watch a dogsled race, will be led by Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance, and include White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

President Donald Trump on Monday said his administration was dealing with people in Greenland who wanted something to happen, referencing his repeated calls for the US to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

“I think Greenland is going to be something that maybe is in our future,” Trump told reporters after a meeting with his cabinet.

Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede called the delegation’s visit, which runs from Thursday to Saturday, a “provocation” and said his caretaker government would not meet with it.

“Until recently, we could trust the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we enjoyed working closely,” Egede told local newspaper Sermitsiaq. “But that time is over.” The Greenlandic government, Naalakkersuisut, is currently in a caretaker phase following a March 11 parliamentary election won by the Democrats, a pro-business party that favours a slow approach to independence from Denmark.

Jens-Frederik Nielsen, leader of the Democrats, called for political unity and criticized the timing of the visit during coalition talks with municipal elections due next week.

“We must not be forced into a power game that we ourselves have not chosen to be a part of,” Nielsen said on Monday.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2025