Greenland’s Prime Minister Says Arctic Nation Won’t ‘Welcome’ Donald Trump’s ‘Great Hospital Boat’

(AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Greenland’s prime minister said Sunday that his arctic nation will not “welcome” U.S. President Donald Trump’s “hospital boat” supposedly on its way to help citizens “not being taken care of there.”

Trump announced Saturday via Truth Social, “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!!!” The announcement included an AI-generated illustration of the USNS Mercy, according to The Post.

Landry was named Trump’s envoy to the Danish territory in December.

According to The Washington Post, Trump’s announcement is “causing befuddlement on both sides of the Atlantic.”

“It’s a no thank you from here,” Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement Sunday. “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. That is a deliberate choice — and a fundamental part of our society. That is not how it works in the USA.”

Nielsen continued, “Please talk to us instead of just making more or less random statements on social media. Dialogue and cooperation require respect for the fact that decisions about our country are made here at home.”

In an odd turn of events, “Maritime tracking data further suggests there are no U.S. hospital ships currently positioned to sail to Greenland,” The Post reported.

Trump’s announcement came after Denmark’s Arctic Command reported early Saturday “that it had evacuated a crew member of a U.S. submarine in need of doctors,” the report said.

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish media, “The Greenlandic population receives the health care it needs. Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics.”

Trump’s fixation on acquiring Greenland caused Denmark to deploy troops to defend the region in January, with the backing of France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later that month, Trump reiterated that the U.S. had to have Greenland for national security purposes, but said he didn’t plan to use force.

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