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.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Denmark does not appreciate the "tone" that the U.S. has been using regarding Greenland.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not doing a good job keeping Greenland safe and suggested the United States would better protect the semi-autonomous Danish territory that President Donald Trump has pressed to take over.

The Danish foreign minister has scolded the Trump administration for its “tone” in criticizing Denmark and Greenland, saying his country is already investing more into Arctic security and remains open to more cooperation with the U.

President Donald Trump said this week that the U.S. “would go as far as we have to” to take ownership of territory."

Trump has dreams of Greenland. But the semiautonomous territory of Denmark wants no part of it.

Thule Air Base was renamed Pituffik Space Base in April 2023 to “recognize Greenlandic cultural heritage,” and the site continues to handle missile defense, space surveillance and a system that detects ballistic missiles before they fly near U.S. soil.