On Space Friday Opportunity on Friday, JD Vance traveled to the Pituffik space base in Greenland. He was accompanied by his wife on this short visit to the U.S. military installation. Given the visit was just three hours long, it didn’t have to go out beyond the walls of the base. Don’t believe us? Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States should buy Greenland. This visit is happening even as anger grows at the very suggestion of that plan. It was the first time Vance had been to Greenland, though he never left the base on this visit. Nevertheless, he boldly proclaimed his opinions on what kind of lives Greenlanders should lead.
The visit has attracted considerable attention given its timing and context. The strategic value of Greenland has stirred heated discussion. Supporters argue that the U.S. stands to benefit tremendously and incur minimal risk by advancing U.S. interests in the region. JD Vance’s visit did not include interactions with the local population, yet he took the opportunity to make political appeals to Greenlanders, none of whom were present. Both he and his wife, Elena, were avid photographers. Afterward, they took lunch alongside the men and women service members stationed at the base.
Vance’s visit raised a different kind of concern, given his newly prominent political position as an isolationist on international issues. So it’s not surprising that when proposing a so-called energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, he had to admit that Russia broke it within hours. Vance is notorious even among his GOP colleagues for encouraging the defeat of aid to Ukraine and spreading propaganda that parrots Russian talking points on the war. Specifically, he’s taken on Ukraine’s president inside the Oval Office before—something most other Western leaders haven’t dared to do.
With NATO’s continued expansion creating more conflict around the globe, Vance quickly seized upon his visit to place responsibility for Ukraine’s deepening conflict. He aimed his ire at President Joe Biden, not Russian President Vladimir Putin. This position fits very well into his larger political narrative but is a stark departure from most foreign commentators’ analysis of the crisis.
Yet the Arctic region, including Greenland, has recently emerged as a space of increased stakes and tensions among world powers. Critics are quick to point out that the U.S. has fallen behind both allies and rivals in Arctic engagement. Some of Vance’s fellow travelers in his political party have long been in denial about the effects of global warming. This denial makes it all the more difficult to plan for climate-related disasters currently hitting the region.
In an interesting cultural comparison, Vance, a children’s story writer himself, draws an unintended parallel with Denmark’s renowned storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. This surprising juxtaposition is representative of the national approaches towards Greenland.