On March 27, 2025, a day before a planned visit by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, to Greenland, claims circulated online that officials had canceled the visit after no locals wanted to meet with the second lady.
(Facebook user God)
A Facebook post sharing the claim read: "Greenland visit cancelled after locals refuse to welcome Usha Vance."
The claim also appeared on (archived) X (archived), Threads (archived), Reddit (archived) and Bluesky (archived).
However, while Danish media (Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark) and Greenlandic officials initially reported Usha Vance's visit as "canceled," that was not the entire story.
Rather, Usha Vance's travel plans changed on March 25. The second lady and her son were originally due to attend the Avannaata Qimussersua dogsled race in Sisimut, near Greenland's capital of Nuuk. The visit was canceled in favor of a joint (archived) visit by Usha and JD Vance to Pituffik Space Base — an installation of the U.S. Space Force — on March 28.
TV2, a Danish state-owned broadcaster, reported on March 26 that officials changed the second lady's travel plans due to a lack of interest from local people in meeting the Vances. The report was based on one reporter's account. It was not possible to independently verify the report.
TV2's Europe correspondent Jesper Steinmetz said:
American representatives have been knocking on door after door in recent days to ask if they would like a visit from the Vice President's wife. Everywhere the answer was the same: "No, thank you" and that's why the plans have changed.
A popular X post (archived) by Rasmus Jarlov, the spokesperson on Greenlandic affairs for the Danish Conservative Party, spread the claim in English.
A senior White House aide called TV2's report "categorically false." The aide repeated to Snopes previously reported statements that officials changed Usha Vance's schedule to fit with that of the vice president after he decided to join the trip. The aide further confirmed that Usha Vance was still due to visit Greenland on March 28.
JD Vance said in a video posted to X on March 25 that he would be joining his wife on her visit to Greenland, and that he would visit Pituffik Space Base.
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the Danish minister of foreign affairs, aired a third reason for the change of plans on March 27.
Rasmussen said Danish officials had told American officials that the visit placed "unacceptable pressure" on Greenland and that this message cause the change in plans:
What the Prime Minister says in public is what we have already communicated to the Americans, together with the Greenlanders. That's why the Americans are actually canceling the visit they had planned.
The vice president's office did not comment on Rasmussen's statement or the report.
The Vances' trip to Greenland came at a time of political tensions between the U.S., Greenland and Denmark. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wishes to acquire the island.
On March 14, the parties of the newly reelected Greenlandic Parliament issued a statement in response to Trump, saying they did not accept "an intention to occupy and control Greenland."
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen supported the Greenlandic Parliament's statements and called (archived) for respect for Denmark's "territorial integrity" and the Greenlandic people.
We have previously debunked claims that Trump had a deal in place to buy Greenland, that Greenland's Prime Minister trolled Trump on social media and that Trump said he wished to annex Alaska and Greenland.
DeepL.com provided translations from Danish and Greenlandic into English.