The U.S. military removed the commander of its base in Greenland hours after a news report that she had broken with the Trump administration’s stance toward the territory, with a Pentagon spokesman saying behavior out of step with President Donald Trump’s agenda “will not be tolerated” by the Defense Department.Col. Susan Meyers, commander of Pituffik Space Base, was dismissed Thursday, the Space Force said in a statement. That afternoon, Military.com published a report detailing an email from Meyers to base personnel after Vice President JD Vance’s March 28 visit there in which she distanced the base from his remarks.Since taking office, Trump has pushed for the United States to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, despite objections by Danish and Greenlander politicians. Vance, whose visit the White House scaled back after local outcry, sharply criticized Denmark in his remarks at Pituffik.Afterward, according to Military.com, an independent news outlet that covers the U.S. military, Meyers wrote: “I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the U.S. administration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base.”The Trump administration is carrying out a purge of senior military officers that has included five women, and Meyers becomes at least the 10th officer to be removed from a post. The administration this month removed a top Navy admiral from her post as U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee.The purge is part of a larger effort by Trump to remove or target those he perceives as his political opponents and some who question the administration. He has fired senior officials at the Justice Department, ordered federal prosecutors to investigate officials who opposed him during his first term, revoked security clearances and targeted law firms that have represented people Trump considers his adversaries.The Space Force statement said Meyers had been removed “for loss of confidence in her ability to lead.” It said commanders are expected to adhere to high conduct standards, “especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties.””Actions to undermine the chain of command or to subvert President Trump’s agenda will not be tolerated at the Department of Defense,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. He cited the Military.com report in his X post about Meyers’ removal.Meyers has been reassigned and has left the Greenland base, a Space Force official told The Washington Post. Meyers could not immediately be reached for comment.Politicians and locals in Greenland and Denmark have objected to Trump’s agenda. Trump has repeatedly said the United States will “get” Greenland, saying ahead of Vance’s visit that “we’re going to have to have it.” The White House is working on an estimate of how much it would cost to make Greenland a U.S. territory.In his remarks, Vance underscored Trump’s desire to have Greenland but slightly softened the idea, saying the administration hoped Greenlanders would choose to become independent of Denmark and then enter into talks with the United States.”The president said we have to have Greenland, and I think we do have to be more serious about the security of Greenland,” he said during the visit. “We cannot just ignore this place. We cannot just ignore the president’s desires.”Vance also slammed Denmark, accusing it of not having “done a good job by the people of Greenland.”In the email reported by Military.com, Meyers wrote that she had spent the weekend after Vance’s visit thinking about how it might have affected the people who work on the base, including Greenlander, Danish and Canadian personnel. She told them that “for as long as I am lucky enough to lead this base, all of our flags will fly proudly — together,” the outlet reported.
