“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance said, according to the Associated Press. “You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change.”
Vance then suggested the U.S. has “no option” but to make efforts to ensure Greenland’s security, and he encouraged the territory to push for independence from Denmark.
Although Vance suggested U.S. control of Greenland was necessary to protect the territory from encroachment from China and Russia in his remarks, many people on social media found one sentence particularly shocking as it seemed to suggest that Trump’s desires are the important thing here.
“The president said we have to have Greenland, and I think that we do have to be more serious about the security of Greenland,” Vance said. “We can’t just ignore this place. We can’t just ignore the president’s desires, but, most importantly, we can’t ignore what I said earlier [about] the Russian and Chinese encroachment in Greenland. We have to do more.”
Many people on social media noted that the part of his comment about not ignoring the president’s desires sure seemed kinda authoritarian.
And, yes, people had thoughts.
