Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Greenland this week is historic. No sitting American vice president has ever visited the nation. Yet the visit comes with controversy and follows a string of provocative statements by President Trump about Greenland that have unsettled many in Nuuk. What was originally expected to include Second Lady Usha Vance’s attendance at a well-known dog sled race has now been narrowed to a visit to the U.S. military base in the far north of the country.

The Trump administration is absolutely right to highlight Greenland’s strategic importance. This is not just a matter of politics — in the context of American national defense, it’s a matter of geography and physics. Greenland, like Iceland, plays a vital role in continental defense, particularly against airborne threats, due to its location. In simple terms, Greenland and Iceland serve as the “forward operating bases” of the North American continent.

Greenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark. It was granted home rule in 1979 and expanded self-government in 2009. Today, it exercises authority over most domestic policy areas, with the key exceptions being foreign affairs, defense and monetary policy, all of which remain under Danish control.

Luckily for the U.S., every American policy goal in Greenland can be pursued through our close and long-standing relationships with both the Greenlandic and Danish governments. In addition to the security cooperation, there is mutual interest........

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