COPENHAGEN: The head of the US military base in Greenland, a Danish territory coveted by Trump, has been fired for criticising Washington’s agenda for the Arctic island.
Colonel Susannah Meyers, who had served as commander of the Pituffik Space Base since July, was removed amid reports she distanced herself and the base from US Vice President JD Vance’s criticism of Denmark and its oversight of the territory during his visit to the base two weeks ago.
“Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties,” the US Space Force said in a statement late Thursday.
The statement did not expand further, but US website Military.com said Meyers sent a March 31 email to all personnel at Pituffik “seemingly aimed at generating unity among the airmen and guardians, as well as the Canadians, Danes and Greenlanders who work there, following Vance’s appearance.”
During his March 28 visit to the base, Vance told a press conference that “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.”
“You have under-invested in the people of Greenland and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass,” he added.
In her email, relayed to Military.com, Meyers wrote: “I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the US administration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base.”
On X, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said “actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump’s agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense.”
Trump has insisted that the United States needs control of Greenland for national and international security and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.
Meyers has been replaced by Colonel Shawn Lee, the US Space Force said.
And, US troops will be able to deploy to a string of bases along the Panama Canal under a joint deal seen by AFP, a major concession to President Donald Trump as he seeks to reestablish influence over the vital waterway.
The agreement, signed by top security officials from both countries, allows US military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises and “other activities.”
The deal stops short of allowing the United States to build its own permanent bases on the isthmus, a move that would be deeply unpopular with Panamanians and legally fraught.
But it gives the United States broad sway to deploy an unspecified number of personnel to bases, some of which Washington built when it occupied the canal zone decades ago.
However, a longer-term rotational force—such as the one the United States maintains in Darwin, Australia—could prove politically toxic for Panama’s centre-right leader Jose Raul Mulino.
Mulino was on Thursday in Peru, where he revealed that the United States had asked to have its own bases.
Mulino said he had told visiting Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth that US bases, allowed under an earlier draft, would be “unacceptable.”
He warned Hegseth: “Do you want to create a mess, what we’ve put in place here would set the country on fire.”
In the watered-down “Memorandum of Understanding”, signed by Hegseth and Panama’s security chief Frank Abrego Wednesday, Panama won its own concessions.
The United States recognized Panama’s sovereignty—not a given following Trump’s refusal to rule out an invasion—and Panama will retain control over any installations.
Panama will also have to agree to any deployments.
But given Trump’s willingness to rip up or rewrite trade deals, treaties and agreements, that might offer little comfort to worried Panamanians.
“What we have here is a setback to national sovereignty,” Panamanian trade union leader Saul Mendez told AFP.
“What the Panamanian government has done is an act of treason. They are traitors and must be tried.”