N UUK, Greenland — U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife are due to visit an American military base in Greenland on Friday in a trip that was scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were irked that the original itinerary was planned without consulting them.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly offered, dating back to his first administration, a desire to secure Greenland for the U.S. as Russian and Chinese presence grows in the Arctic.

One of Greenland’s national pastimes was nearly hijacked this week after the White House said the Second Lady would attend. She didn’t. But a lot of people talked about this as the mushers did their work.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will visit Greenland on April 2-4 for talks with the semi-autonomous territory's new government, she said on Saturday, amid U.S. interest in taking control of the Arctic island.

Politicians in Greenland and Denmark have firmly rejected the idea, but the U.S. administration appears undeterred, so how could a U.S. takeover play out?

Greenland's incoming Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Monday that he was looking forward to a visit from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen this Wednesday, and that Greenland had been wishing for this visit.

Denmark's foreign minister posted a video scolding the Trump administration hours after Vice President JD Vance's visit to Greenland.

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