JD Vance Condemns 'What Denmark Has Done' During Visit To Greenland Military Base

2 days ago

At a press briefing at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, Vice President JD Vance spoke about Denmark and the U.S.'s ambitions for Greenland.

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Transcript

00:00So, number one, I think a lot of Americans wonder, why does Greenland matter so much?

00:05Why does the mission of this base matter so much to the American people?

00:09And I learned a lot about that today myself.

00:11Of course, you can read about it in a book, but I saw it up close and personal.

00:14And if, God forbid, to my fellow Americans, if a missile was fired from an enemy country

00:20or an enemy submarine into the United States, it is the people here before us who would

00:25give notice to our brave men and women further south in the United States to let people know

00:31what was coming and, God willing, to try to shoot it down and prepare for it.

00:35That's one of the things that we do at installations like this.

00:39We know that Russia and China and other nations are taking an extraordinary interest in Arctic

00:45passageways and Arctic naval routes and, indeed, in the minerals of the Arctic territories.

00:51We need to ensure that America is leading in the Arctic because we know that if America

00:55doesn't, other nations will fill the gap where we fall behind.

01:00So what you guys do is so critically important.

01:04I think a lot of Americans, certainly I, didn't realize it fully until President Trump started

01:09talking about the importance of our Arctic mission, about building upon it, and ensuring

01:14that America can lead in the Arctic for the next generation.

01:17And now I want to talk about, of course, the interaction and what Denmark, I think,

01:23has done and sometimes in partnership with us, but let's be honest, what Denmark over

01:28the last 20 years has failed to do in some cases because we know that, unfortunately,

01:34this place, this base, this surrounding area is less secure than it was 30, 40 years ago

01:42because some of our allies haven't kept up.

01:45As China and Russia have taken greater and greater interest in Greenland, in this base,

01:50in the activities of the brave Americans right here, we know that too often our allies in

01:55Europe have not kept pace.

01:57They haven't kept pace with military spending, and Denmark has not kept pace in devoting

02:02the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view, to keep

02:07the people of Greenland safe from a lot of very aggressive incursions from Russia, from

02:13China, and from other nations.

02:14Now, President Trump, as he says all the time and as a lot of people recognize, is a president

02:19of peace.

02:20We want to have good relationships with everybody.

02:22That includes even, to the extent possible, the Chinese and the Russians, but part of

02:27having good relations is showing your strength when you have to, and unfortunately, the story

02:33of Greenland over the past 20 years when it comes to security is that we've underinvested

02:38in the infrastructure, we've underinvested in the security architecture, and we've underinvested

02:44in the brave men and women who are doing a very hard job, as Mike said, to keep all

02:48of us safe.

02:50That has to change.

02:52Now, when I pointed out a couple of weeks ago that in some ways, with all due respect

02:57to our Danish allies, they had not kept pace, there was a lot of criticism from Denmark,

03:02a lot of attacks at the Trump administration, at the president, at me, at others in our

03:07administration for saying the obvious, which is that Denmark hasn't done a good job at

03:13keeping Greenland safe.

03:14And one of the things I heard was, well, what about the many Danes who lost their lives

03:19in the war on terror fighting alongside the United States?

03:22Well, look, we obviously honor the sacrifice of our Danish friends in the war on terror

03:2720 years ago, just as, for example, the French honor the sacrifice of Americans in Normandy

03:3380 years ago.

03:35But recognizing that there are important security partnerships in the past does not mean that

03:41we can't have disagreements with allies in the present about how to preserve our shared

03:46security for the future.

03:48And that's what this is about.

03:49There is no amount of bullying, no amount of obfuscating, no amount of confusing the

03:55issue.

03:56Our message to Denmark is very simple.

03:58You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.

04:02You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security

04:06architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people.

04:11That has to change.

04:13And because it hasn't changed, this is why President Trump's policy in Greenland is what

04:17it is.

04:18It's consistent with the first Trump administration, where you saw significant investments in Arctic

04:23security, and it will continue over the next four years under President Trump's leadership.

04:27And let me finally, before I kick it over to the media, make one comment about the people

04:31of Greenland.

04:33I, you know, the colonel here, the base commander, who came here first as a second lieutenant,

04:38and I guess, Colonel, this is your second duty station here, and we're proud of you

04:42and proud of all of you guys who are serving and helping keep us safe.

04:46You know, I heard a lot about the respect that our American troops show for the local

04:51Greenlandic population, the way that we make and create shelter for hunters and dog slithers,

04:57the way that we found ways to turn over traditional tribal land to some of the local populations

05:03in order to ensure that they're able to live in accordance with their values.

05:07We respect, as the president said in his State of the Union address, we respect the self-determination

05:13of Greenlandic, Greenlanders, excuse me.

05:16We believe in the self-determination of the population of the people of Greenland.

05:21And our argument is very simple.

05:23It is not with the people of Greenland, who I think are incredible and have an incredible

05:28opportunity here.

05:30Our argument really is with the leadership of Denmark, which is under-invested in Greenland

05:36and under-invested in security architecture.

05:38That simply must change.

05:40It is the policy of the United States that that will change, and I'm proud to be able

05:44to stand here with so many brave Americans to better understand the security mission

05:48and better understand what you guys do each and every day.

05:51For that, I'm grateful for your service.

05:53I'm even more grateful.

05:54I love you guys.

05:55I'm proud of you guys, and President Trump stands behind you and will for the remainder

05:59of his administration.

06:00Thank you all.

06:01God bless you.

JD Vance Condemns 'What Denmark Has Done' During Visit To Greenland Military Base

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