JD & Usha Vance Try To Make Disastrous Greenland Trip Look Fun & Fail Miserably

JD Vance and Usha Vance's recent Greenland trip was full of controversy; not least of which centered around the fact that the visit seemed to promote Donald Trump's repeated idea of the U.S. taking over Greenland ostensibly for security reasons. It turns out that JD and Usha weren't actually invited to the island by anyone from Denmark or Greenland, and Greenlanders reportedly didn't want to meet them. That seemed to cause a change of plans for the visit. Usha had said in her Instagram post about the trip that she'd be attending the national dog sled race; instead, the two just visited Pituffik Space Base, a U.S. military base in northwest Greenland dating back to the 1950s, where JD and Usha's behavior signaled to some that their marriage was on the rocks. But any and all controversy of the trip was entirely avoided in the video that JD shared on social media touting their trip. We know often social media is often used to post just the best versions of our lives, but in this case, people really weren't buying it.

One person on X (formerly known as Twitter) wrote about the video, "OMG, this is somehow more embarrassing than the visit itself." They weren't alone. Another said, "It's actually insane how contrived this whole video is and embarrassing." And on Instagram, one person joked, "I wonder why there's no footage of y'all talking to the population."

JD and Usha Vance spent just three hours in Greenland, and they only visited the U.S. military base. That didn't go unnoticed in the comments on the video JD shared about the trip. One person on Instagram said, "Took more time to edit the video than the time you spent there." Another brought up Elon Musk, who is working to help reduce government spending, writing: "How much per hour was this trip. Did Elon ok this?" Donald Trump's bond with Musk seems to have left Vance out in the cold.

JD's Greenland video also included a quick shot of Usha waving as she and JD got off the plane. Except there may not have actually been that many people to wave to. This tactic of waving at crowds that aren't there is one that Donald Trump has been accused of using in the past.

Another blunder during the Greenland trip was when JD made a joke about the weather, saying upon arrival at the Space Force base: "It's cold as sh*t here. Nobody told me," via YouTube. The joke didn't make the cut for JD's promo video about the trip, maybe because it didn't land for everyone. One person on X said of the moment, "Cringe. Trying too hard. Wife knows it's cringe but provides a pity laugh." Others poked fun at the situation, noting that JD's attempt at a joke could have applied as much to the unfriendly welcome they got as to the weather. There were protests in Nuuk, Greenland's capital, in response to JD and Usha's visit.