Mike Lee joins Vance's trip to Greenland amid Trump suggestions to take over

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WASHINGTON — Utah Sen. Mike Lee is traveling with Vice President JD Vance to Greenland on Friday, joining a small delegation of U.S. officials amid suggestions from President Donald Trump to acquire the territory.

The group heading to Greenland consists of Lee, Vance, second lady Usha Vance, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and national security adviser Michael Waltz. While there, the delegation is expected to visit the Pituffik Space Base, and they are expected to return by the end of the day.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30. Lee is traveling with Vice President JD Vance to Greenland on Friday. (Photo: Ben Curtis, Associated Press)

"I'm glad for the opportunity to accompany the Vice President and Usha Vance to Greenland, where we'll visit with the excellent men and women of the Space Force at Pituffik and forge a new future for this historic and strategically vital land," Lee told the Deseret News in a statement.

Lee referenced his trip in multiple posts on the social platform X, noting it's his first trip to Greenland and asking for "suggestions" on what to see.

"If Greenland isn't green, I'll feel like I felt when I learned (t)hat 'antitrust' isn't the antonym of 'trust,'" Lee wrote in another post.

While there, JD Vance is expected to receive briefings from service members on the base, although it's not clear the extent to which Lee will be involved. The vice president will also give remarks at the military base before departing.

The trip was initially planned as a cultural experience for only second lady Usha Vance, but those plans were changed earlier this week amid contentions about Trump's public musings about annexing the territory, according to CNN. As tensions rose, the vice president decided earlier this week to join her, a White House official told the outlet.

"It was a combination of a little bit of commotion from Danish leaders combined with (JD) Vance wanting to go for a while," the official said.

"I decided I didn't want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I'm going to join her," JD Vance said with a smile in a video announcing his participation in the trip.

JD Vance's presence makes him the highest-ranking official to visit Greenland, and it is the farthest north any senior U.S. leader has ever gone for an official visit.

But it doesn't come without controversy. Trump has continually proposed the United States taking over Greenland for strategic and economic purposes. The territory has been controlled by Denmark since 1721.

Several Republicans in Congress have backed those plans, with some members going so far as to introduce legislation that would authorize Trump to enter into negotiations with Denmark to acquire the island. Some legislation even proposes changing the name of Greenland to "Red, White and Blueland."

"We'll go as far as we have to go," Trump told reporters on Wednesday about efforts to take over. "We need Greenland. And the world needs us to have Greenland."