Trump first expressed interest in buying Greenland, the world's largest island and an autonomous Danish territory, during his first presidency. In addition to being rich in natural resources, Greenland's Arctic location is well-placed to further US interests by countering China and Russia.

Since his reelection, Trump has repeatedly conveyed his desire to acquire Greenland and said he would not rule out the use of military force to take it.

"We need Greenland for national security. One way or the other we're going to get it," he said in his joint address to Congress in March.

Both Denmark and Greenland's leaders have maintained that the island is not for sale.

Second lady Usha Vance was originally scheduled to visit Greenland on a solo trip from Thursday through Saturday to "visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage, and attend the Avannaata Qimussersua, Greenland's national dogsled race," the White House said.

Instead, the trip has been scaled back. The vice president and second lady are scheduled to visit Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, the US military's northernmost installation, on Friday.

Usha Vance's solo trip could have violated diplomatic protocol by sending a delegation to another country without an invitation. The amended plan — visiting a US base — avoids that potential violation. While Trump said on Monday that "people from Greenland are asking us to go there," the government of Greenland said they had not invited any foreign delegations to visit.

"Just for the record, Naalakkersuisut, the government of Greenland, has not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official," the government's official Facebook page wrote in a post on Monday.

Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede also called Usha Vance's planned trip "very aggressive" in an interview with Sermitsiaq, a Greenlandic newspaper.

"Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance are proud to visit the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland this Friday," Taylor Van Kirk, JD Vance's press secretary, told Business Insider on Thursday. "As the vice president has said, previous US leaders have neglected Arctic security, while Greenland's Danish rulers have neglected their security obligations to the island. The security of Greenland is critical in ensuring the security of the rest of the world, and the Vice President looks forward to learning more about the island."

While the US doesn't own Greenland, it has had a military presence there since World War II.

Pituffik Space Base, originally named Thule Air Base, was formally established in 1951 as part of a Cold War-era defense treaty between the US and Denmark. It is located in Pituffik, Greenland, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle and halfway between New York and Moscow.

As a Danish territory, Greenland does not have a military of its own.

As the Pentagon's northernmost military base, Pituffik Space Base acts as a key Arctic defense outpost. Because of its location on the "top of the world," it is an optimal vantage point for monitoring missile launches by US adversaries like Russia and establishing space superiority.

The base is the site of a phased-array radar, which can detect sea-launched and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and a surface-to-air missile system, which intercepts hostile threats.

The base has a Satellite Command and Control system to maintain real-time communications and data relay with military and intelligence satellites. Its high-altitude location also allows it to more frequently track polar-orbit satellites, which can monitor the entire Earth's surface over time as the planet rotates below them.

Because Pituffik's primary mission is space surveillance and missile warning, the space base doesn't house a permanently stationed fighter wing or naval fleet.

Instead, it acts as a strategic logistics and defense hub for Arctic missions and under-ice operations. From the site, which is the world's northernmost deep-water seaport, surface vessels and submarines operated by the US Navy and allied forces conduct Arctic patrols and cold-weather training exercises.

Aircraft regularly fly in and out of the former air base, such as military cargo and refueling planes and maritime patrol aircraft. Occasionally, fighter jets and long-range bombers will fly to the base for Arctic deterrence deployments and training flights.

While it doesn't have a permanent combat force, the Air Force does have one tugboat at Pituffik to support port operations, icebreaking, and maneuvering ships.

A small but significant asset, the Rising Star helps keep supply routes open by breaking up and pushing floating ice. The tugboat guides supply ships through the port, making it a critical component in bringing fuel, food, and equipment to personnel year-round.

However, since the base is locked in by ice for nine months of the year, the Rising Star gets limited use because it can only be operated when the port is completely ice-free.

Pituffik Space Base is surrounded by ice for nine months out of every year. The closest town, the Inuit village of Qaanaaq, is located 65 miles away.

Temperatures can range from 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, when there are 24 hours of daylight, to -50 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, when there is no sunlight for weeks.

Winter storms are categorized into five levels from least to most severe: Normal, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. At the Bravo level, the buddy system is implemented so that no one walks outside alone. Non-essential facilities close at the Charlie level, and personnel must shelter in place during Delta storms.

About 150 personnel are stationed at Pituffik.

The Dundas Buffet Dining Hall on base serves three meals a day with payments accepted through a meal card.

The Base Exchange, also known as "BX," sells groceries, toiletries, souvenirs, and other assorted goods. It also houses a barber shop.

There are no ATMs at Pituffik Space Base, but the Base Exchange accepts debit and credit cards as well as US dollars.

Pituffik Space Base features a bowling alley, a chapel, and a community center with a theater and craft room.

There's also a gymnasium and workout room stocked with weights and treadmills.

Pituffik Space Base's official Facebook page shows personnel participating in recreational events such as a Hawaiian-themed Arctic luau party, Greenlandic Heritage Week, and cross-country skiing.

The US built airbases and weather stations across the ice sheet during World War II as refueling stops on transatlantic flights and supply routes.

Two decommissioned airbases are now being used as civilian airports, and a third was abandoned after the war ended.

During the Cold War, the US Air Force also built four stations on Greenland's coasts as part of a larger communication network of more than 60 radar installations to detect Soviet bombers. Most of the stations have since been deactivated, left to deteriorate atop Greenland's ice sheet.

Late last year, NASA scientists detected an underground base for a top-secret Cold War-era missile operation known as Camp Century. Now buried 100 feet under the ice, the abandoned network of subterranean tunnels once operated under the guise of an Arctic research facility before the US government declassified it in 1995.

But the abandoned military sites represent more than just relics of past global conflicts. Thousands of gallons of biological, chemical, and radioactive waste left behind on the bases pose a significant environmental threat, especially as the planet warms.

The US military failed to clean up decommissioned facilities like Camp Century, assuming the ice sheet would entomb the waste and infrastructure over the years.

However, at the current melting rate of the Arctic, researchers estimate that the waste could resurface around 2100. The question remains as to who is responsible for cleaning up the waste from abandoned US military facilities scattered throughout Greenland.

The US has long pursued access to or control over Greenland due to its strategic and economic significance, dating back as early as the late 19th century.

Since his return to the White House, Trump has continued to double down on his ambitions to secure the self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, saying he won't rule out military force or economic coercion to do so.

Though the Danish government has remained steadfast in refusing the sale, Trump's so-called "real estate deal" has spotlighted Greenland's growing desire for independence from Denmark and disinterest in being owned by anybody, including the US.

"Greenland is for the Greenlandic people," Greenland Prime Minister Egede said at a January news conference. "We do not want to be Danish. We do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic."

The Navy operates two types of littoral combat ships: the Independence-class and the Freedom-class. The former class of ships has suffered from structural flaws, while a litany of maintenance issues has plagued the latter, and several of both classes have been deactivated before their time.

For example, USS Milwaukee, a $750 million Freedom-class ship, was decommissioned last year after just eight years in service. The LCS was originally meant to serve for 25 years. It is one of about half a dozen littoral combat ships — most being from the Freedom class — that have been pulled from active service.

Retired Navy Vice Adm. Dirk Debbink told Business Insider that the Navy has made improvements to the class since then.

"There's a lot of confidence in the engineering plant now, for example, which is a problem with some of the earlier ships of the class," he said of the USS Beloit. "I'm excited about this ship because I think it's going to hopefully redeem the class in general."

Whether the full range of issues with the LCS have been addressed remains to be seen. There have long been concerns about cost, performance, and survivability, and key questions persist regarding the LCS's suitability in a high-end fight against a near-peer adversary like the US military's pacing challenge — China. The Navy has since put some of its hopes for the LCS into the new class of frigate in development.

Built by Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the Navy describes USS Beloit, its 15th Freedom-variant LCS, as a "fast, agile" vessel that can operate in shallow waters near shore and in the open ocean. It has a much smaller crew than a destroyer and is armed with fewer weapons for sustained combat.

After it was christened in May 2022, the Beloit completed sea trials the following year and was delivered to the Navy in late September.

The warship will be homeported at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida.

The ship measures 387 feet long and can reach speeds of over 46 miles per hour — outpacing the rest of the fleet with its waterjet propulsion.

Its hangar can accommodate two MH-60 helicopters or one helicopter and one drone, and its flight deck is 50% larger than that of traditional surface combatants, according to the ship's commissioning committee.

LCSs are designed to support maritime security and deter enemy attacks. The Freedom-class ships are armed with a SeaRAM close-in weapon system that fires intercept missiles and a 57mm gun capable of firing up to 220 rounds per minute.

USS Beloit will also be equipped with Naval Strike Missiles, a long-range anti-ship weapon system capable of striking with high precision.

USS Beloit also includes an automated radio room, a decoy launching system, and a gunfire control system.

Retired Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson, the first Black woman to achieve that Army rank in 2011, was chosen to sponsor USS Beloit.

Navy secretaries choose sponsors based on their relationship to the vessel's namesake or mission, and Anderson's hometown is Beloit.

"It is important to recognize that small cities like Beloit have had an outsized impact on our National Security for over 100 years and also have a significant role in the history of our country," Anderson wrote in a statement on the ship's commission committee website.

"We must never forget that the reason our country is so admired around the world is because we have always been a nation that honors and recognizes the devotion and courage of ordinary people," she continued. "The USS Beloit exemplifies and continues that tradition."

The ship's core crew consists of 50 sailors, and its spaces can accommodate up to 98 sailors.

USS Beloit's battle flag features a badger, Wisconsin's state animal. The ship's mascot is named Rocky, after the Rock River in Beloit.