Trump 'forgets' Second Lady Usha Vance's name in awkward clip as he claims Greenland 'invited' her to visit

US president Donald Trump appeared to forget the name of vice-president JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, as he commented on her controversial trip to Greenland.

Speaking to the press at the White House, Trump made reference to the upcoming trip that will see the first lady and US national security adviser, Mike Waltz, visit the territory on Thursday (27 March) – a move that has left Greenlanders angry and calling it a “demonstration of power”.

Trump told reporters the pair were “invited” to the country – a claim strongly refuted by Greenland’s government.

“Just for the record, Naalakkersuisut, the government of Greenland, has not extended any invitations for any visits, neither private nor official,” the government said in a social media post.

As he spoke, Trump proceeded to forget Usha Vance’s name and instead referred to her simply as JD Vance’s wife.

“I thought it would be a great… I have great respect for, er, the wife of our first… of our great vice-president. I think she’s doing a… she’s a brilliant woman. She’s, er, a very nice woman and she loves the concept of Greenland,” Trump said.

Trump isn’t the first person to forget the name of the first lady, as FOX Business host Larry Kudlow said live on air: “Mike Waltz [is] going to Greenland, the erm… er, JD Vance’s wife is going to Greenland.”

The trip comes as Trump has repeatedly made it known he wants the US to take ownership of Greenland – an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark.

But, while Trump insisted Vance and Waltz’s visit is one of “friendship”, Greenland’s Prime Minister disagrees.

Trump claimed: “So they’re going there and that’s purely friendship … People from Greenland are asking us to go. We have many, many requests from many, many people – some officials, too.”

By contrast, Greenland’s PM Múte B. Egede, told local media: “We are now at a level where it can in no way be characterised as a harmless visit from a politician’s wife.

“What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us.”

It takes place not long after Trump was branded an “embarrassment” for claiming Denmark doesn’t have rights to Greenland. Meanwhile, his goal to make Canada the 51st state of the US was mocked by a legendary Canadian actor.

Sign up for our free indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings