Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of deploying a hospital ship to Greenland with, “No thanks.” Greenland, a territory that Trump has repeatedly expressed an interest in taking over.
On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he has been working with Louisiana Governor and special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, on plans to send a hospital ship to Greenland to “take care” of people on the Island.
“Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way,” he said.
The BBC reported that the post included either an illustrated or AI-generated image of what appeared to be the USNS Mercy, one of the two hospital ships operated by the United States Navy.
Trump’s post regarding the hospital ship was made a few hours after Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command announced that it had evacuated a crew member from a U.S. submarine in Greenlandic waters, who required urgent medical treatment.
Greenland PM ‘Open To Talks’
Nielsen, in turn, responded that Greenland is open to dialogue and cooperation with the United States, but that the U.S. president should talk to them rather than “making more or less random outbursts on social media.”
He said, “It’s going to be a no thanks from us,” and noted that, unlike the U.S., Greenland provides free healthcare to its citizens.
“President Trump’s idea of sending an American hospital ship here to Greenland has been noted. But we have a public healthcare system where treatment is free for citizens. It is a deliberate choice,” Nielsen said in a post on Facebook.
Trump has long been interested in ‘acquiring’ the vast Arctic island of Greenland- but conceded in January that he would not take it by force, after previously refusing to rule out doing so. Greenland, Denmark, and the U.S. have begun diplomatic talks to resolve the crisis between the parties.
(with inputs from Reuters)
