US delegation visits Greenland with diplomatic charm offensive after military threats
A US delegation led by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, America’s special envoy to Greenland, arrived in Nuuk this week with a stated mission to “make as many new friends as possible,” according to a directive from former President Donald Trump. But the visit follows years of US military threats and diplomatic friction, making the friendly overtures an uphill battle, reports Danish broadcaster DR.
Landry, who previously sparked controversy by criticizing Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen for rejecting a US hospital ship offer, now faces skepticism from Greenlandic officials. “It’s hard to become good friends with someone after you’ve kicked them in the shins,” said Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher in Arctic policy at the Danish Institute for International Studies. He described Landry as “a man who doesn’t know what he’s doing, handed an impossible task by Trump.”
The delegation includes US Ambassador to Denmark Ken Howery, a billionaire tech entrepreneur and part of the so-called “PayPal Mafia,” who has previously denied US intentions to forcibly annex Greenland. Howery, who has avoided Danish media since making those remarks, will formally open the US embassy in Greenland on Thursday.
During a walk in Nuuk on Sunday, Landry handed out chocolate coins bearing his name and an image of the Louisiana governor’s mansion to local children, promising them cookies if they visited his home state. Meanwhile, the delegation’s inclusion of Dr. Joseph Griffin—a US physician tasked with assessing Greenland’s medical needs—has drawn sharp criticism. “Healthcare has been a Greenlandic responsibility for over 30 years,” said DR journalist Lasse Lindegaard. “Bringing an American doctor to evaluate it undermines Greenland’s self-rule.”
Greenland’s leaders emphasized mutual respect in Monday’s meeting with Landry and Howery but reiterated demands for diplomatic decorum. “There’s a big difference between how much people think they know about Greenland and what they actually know,” Nielsen told DR, adding that he would not be “shamed” into accepting US overtures.
The visit comes after Trump’s 2020 declaration that Greenland was “a big, poorly managed piece of ice” and repeated US proposals to purchase or annex the territory, including a rejected offer to deploy the hospital ship USNS Mercy—which remains docked in Portland, Oregon.