Vice President JD Vance spent three hours in Greenland on Friday touring a U.S. military base, on a contentious trip pushed by the Trump administration and angrily opposed by Greenlanders.

       In remarks with reporters, Mr. Vance said the United States had to “wake up” to China and Russia’s designs on the island.

       “We can’t just bury our head in the sand,” he said, “or, in Greenland, bury our head in the snow.”

       President Trump has been insisting that the United States take over the icebound island, which is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark and has been connected to Denmark for more than 300 years. Mr. Trump has been fixated on Greenland since his first term in office and recently vowed to “get it — one way or the other.”

       Mr. Vance took a softer tone, saying that the United States would respect Greenland’s right to self-determination and that using military force, which Mr. Trump refused to rule out, would not be necessary.

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       But Greenlanders have resisted the overtures. The government of Greenland did not invite Mr. Vance or the others in his group, which included his wife, Usha, as well as the national security adviser and the energy secretary. Protests had been planned in Nuuk, the capital, where Ms. Vance was originally scheduled to visit, and that part of the trip was scrapped a few days ago.

       Instead, the entire visit was reduced to the Pituffik Space Base, a missile defense station far from any town — or any chance of an embarrassing TV moment.

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