The commander of a U.S. base in Greenland was fired after she sent an email to the military calling JD Vance and the Trump administration’s designs on Greenland “not reflective” of the community the vice president visited.
Col. Susannah Meyers, who headed Pituffik Space Base, was fired over “loss of confidence in her ability to lead,” according to a Space Force news release.
The firing came after Meyers sent an email breaking with the Trump administration’s criticism of Denmark and threats to take over Greenland.
“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,” Meyers wrote, according to a Space Force official. The message went out to American, Danish, Greenlandic and Canadians base members, according to a source with knowledge of the email.
The email was first reported by Military.com.
In a post to X, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote alongside a link to the Military.com report, “Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump’s agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense.”
Vance lashes out at Denmark
During a visit to the base days before Meyers’ email went out, Vance slammed Denmark for “failing” to keep Greenland safe by underinvesting in defense and not doing enough to beat back Russian and Chinese interests in the Arctic island.
“Denmark has not kept pace and devoted the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view, to keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of very aggressive incursions from Russia, from China and other nations,” he said.
Speaking at the White House simultaneously, President Donald Trump said the U.S. can’t “do without” Greenland. “We need Greenland, very importantly for international security,” he said.
More: With jokes about polar bear plunges and Trump interest, JD and Usha Vance land in Greenland
In her email, Meyers said she spent the weekend after Vance’s visit thinking about “the actions taken, the words spoken, and how it must have affected each of you.”
“I commit that, for as long as I am lucky enough to lead this base, all of our flags will fly proudly – together,” she wrote.
Around 150 U.S. servicemembers and personnel are stationed at Pituffik, the farthest north of any U.S. military base.
Trump eyes Greenland takeover
Trump has long floated a U.S. takeover of Greenland. Since he took office for the second time in January, his vows to seize the island have become more concrete, with Trump refusing to rule out using military force to take control.
“We’ll get Greenland,” he told NBC News the day after Vance’s visit.
Vance, in his remarks at the base, took a slightly different tone, suggesting Greenlanders would choose to split from Denmark and join the U.S. instead.
“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” he said.
Denmark has also hit back at the Trump administration, with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen saying of Vance’s comments on the base, “This is not how you speak to your close allies.”
Still, Denmark’s parliament on Friday moved towards ratifying a defense cooperation agreement that would give the U.S. more military rights within the country.
While polls in recent decades show that Greenlanders favor independence from Denmark, the vast majority oppose Trump’s overtures.
