MSNBC foreign correspondent Molly Hunter didn’t hold back Thursday when giving a reality check about the Trump administration’s plans for Greenland, just as Vice President J.D. Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance were set to visit the country.
Hunter, reporting live from Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, said, “We have met no one in the 18 hours that we’ve been on the ground who has been enthusiastic about this trip.”
What was originally planned as a “cultural tour” led by Usha Vance has now been “scaled back” and rebranded as a national security mission, including a stop at a U.S. Space Force base. The vice president himself is now part of the trip. Hunter said, “No one was particularly enthusiastic” about Usha Vance’s visit either.
Speaking to locals, Hunter noted that while the new focus on national security seemed more fitting, the general response was not negative. “No one felt particularly angry that they [the Vances] were going to meet with” U.S. military personnel, she explained.
This view was supported by Jesper Steinmetz of Danish broadcaster TV 2, who shared that U.S. officials asking Greenlanders about Usha Vance’s potential visit were met with a strong “no, no, no, no, no, every single time.”
Greenland, known for its mineral resources, has long been seen by Trump as vital to U.S. national security. However, Danish and Greenlandic officials have firmly rejected this view, with many Greenlanders focused on the idea of gaining independence.
Former Rep. David Jolly, a critic of Trump, mocked the trip, suggesting the White House should have sent actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus instead, joking, “And play a little ‘Veep’ soundtrack for this trip because that’s what this is shaping up to be.”
Watch the video below from MSNBC:
