U.S. removes commander in Greenland following Vance’s controversial visit

Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance tour the US military's Pituffik Space Base on March 28, in Pituffik, Greenland. (Jim Watson/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

The U.S. announced it removed the commander of the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Thursday because of a “loss of confidence in her ability to lead,” after U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s controversial visit to the semiautonomous island last month.

“Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump’s agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote in a statement posted to X on Thursday announcing the removal of Susannah Meyers.

Following Vance’s visit to the island in late March, Military.com reported that Meyers sent out an email to the space base pushing back on the vice president’s actions and comments during the trip. Parnell included a link to the Military.com story in his X post.

The news site reported the ousted commander wrote in an email, “I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the U.S. administration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base.”

Colonel Shawn Lee took over Meyers’ position, according to a press release from the Space Operations Command.

The removal highlights continued moves for United States control over Greenland as President Donald Trump has vowed to acquire the land “one way or another,” and Vance has repeatedly claimed the island is vulnerable and that the US had “no other option” than to ramp up its presence there.

Vance, alongside his wife, second lady Usha Vance, visited the US Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, 1,000 miles from the capital of Nuuk last month. Usha Vance was originally planning to attend a dogsled race on the island, but expected protests and silent demonstrations altered her visit.

During his trip, the vice president made a high-profile case for American control of Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. He said Greenland would be better off “coming under the United States’ security umbrella than you have been under Denmark’s security umbrella.”

Trump has also been vocal about his goal to acquire Greenland and has said he “won’t take anything off the table” to obtain the island, including military force, but that there is a “good possibility” it won’t be needed. He also has confirmed he has “absolutely” engaged in serious discussions about the potential annexation of Greenland.