The leaders of Greenland and Denmark have rejected US President Donald Trump’s plan to dispatch a hospital ship to the Arctic territory, saying the island does not need foreign medical assistance.
Trump, in a Truth Social post on Saturday, announced he would send a “great hospital boat to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way.”
Denmark’s Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters on Sunday that his government had not been made aware of the plan. He said there was “no need for special health care efforts” in Greenland.
“Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics,” Lund Poulsen added.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also rejected the plan in a Facebook post, saying Greenland has “a public health system where care is free for citizens.”
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen responded on Instagram, without mentioning Trump or the United States directly, writing that she is “happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health care for everyone.” She added, “The same approach exists in Greenland.”
Greenland has six hospitals serving a population of fewer than 60,000 people. In early February, the territory’s government signed an agreement with Copenhagen to improve Greenlandic patients’ access to treatment in Danish hospitals.
Trump’s latest remarks are seen as part of his continuing pressure campaign on Greenland. The US president has repeatedly said the United States needs to acquire the semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark for national security reasons.
He later backed down on earlier threats to seize Greenland unilaterally after striking a “framework” deal in January with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, intended to ensure greater US influence.
However, at the Munich Security Conference this month, Frederiksen said she still feared US intentions toward the island. She called the pressure from the United States “unacceptable” and “outrageous.”
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