Greenlanders openly expressing frustration with Second Lady Usha Vance’s trip to their Arctic island are getting what may be an unwelcome update: The vice president is now scheduled to tag along.

In a video posted on X on Tuesday, Vice President Vance said, “There is so much excitement about 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.”

Mr. Vance said he would visit the members of America’s Space Force in Greenland and “also check out what’s going on with the security.” He said the Danish territory has been “threatened” by “a lot of other countries.”

“Speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world,” he said.

American officials announced earlier this week that Ms. Vance, the national security adviser, Michael Waltz, and the secretary of energy, Chris Wright, will visit Greenland.

On Tuesday, Mr. Vance’s office said that the second lady will not go to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race as previously planned but will join her husband on his visit to the Pituffik Space Base and “receive a briefing on Arctic security issues.”

“During World War Two, the United States established over a dozen military bases in Greenland to defend the North Atlantic from Nazi incursion,” Mr. Vance’s office said in a statement. “During the Cold War, the United States committed additional resources to Greenland to defend against Soviet missile attacks. In the decades since, neglect and inaction from Danish leaders and past U.S. administrations have presented our adversaries with the opportunity to advance their own priorities in Greenland and the Arctic. President Trump is rightly changing course.” 

The trip has not been met with much excitement from officials in Denmark, which has governed the island for more than three centuries but given it more autonomy in recent decades. They have taken a dim view of President Trump’s comments about America acquiring Greenland, which he has said is an “absolute necessity.”

During his speech to Congress on March 4, Mr. Trump addressed Greenlanders as he said America “strongly support[s] your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America.” After insisting he supports Greenland’s right to self determination, however, he said, “I think we’re going to get it one way or the other. We’re going to get it.”

In a post on Truth Social ahead of Greenland’s elections earlier this month, Mr Trump wrote, “We will continue to KEEP YOU SAFE, as we have since World War II. We are ready to INVEST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to create new jobs and MAKE YOU RICH.”

Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said of the upcoming trip, “This is clearly not a visit that is about what Greenland needs or wants.”

“Therefore, I have to say that it is unacceptable pressure being put on Greenland and Denmark in this situation. And it’s a pressure we will stand against,” she said.

She also said Greenlanders have been “clear” that they “do not want a visit right now because they do not have a government” after their recent elections.

Officials in Greenland have also criticized the trip. Even before Mr. Vance announced he was visiting the island, the prime minister of Greenland, Mute Egede, whose party was voted out of office, called the trip “highly aggressive” and questioned why Mr. Waltz would be visiting.

He called the visit an attempt to “demonstrate power over us.”

Meanwhile, the likely next leader of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the trip shows a “lack of respect” as it comes as “we are still in a negotiating situation and that the municipal elections have not yet concluded.”

While elected leaders expressed frustration with the visit, Greenland residents are also finding ways to express their displeasure. One resident, Aannguaq Reimer-Johansen, posted an image of a red cap with the words “Make America Go Away” on it on Facebook. 

He called the upcoming visit a “charm offensive” and urged residents not to “show interest” in the American visitors to avoid signaling to “the whole world that you love America and want to be a part of it.”