Pentagon Says They Haven’t Been Ordered to Send Medical Boat to Greenland — Despite Trump Claim a ‘Great Hospital Boat’ is ‘On Its Way’: WSJ

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President Donald Trump claimed a “great hospital boat” was on its way to Greenland to help sick people there who aren’t “being taken care of” — but the Pentagon reportedly says it has not received any such orders.

Trump announced Saturday on Truth Social that he was working with his envoy to Greenland, Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA), 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 Washington Post.

Lara Seligman with The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, “The Pentagon has received no orders to deploy any U.S. Navy vessels to Greenland, according to U.S. officials, despite President Trump’s claim that a hospital ship is “on its way” to the self-governing Danish territory.”

In her WSJ report, Seligman explained, “The U.S. has two hospital ships, the East Coast-based USNS Comfort and the West Coast-based USNS Mercy, which are designed as floating medical treatment facilities. Both vessels are currently in a shipyard in Mobile, Ala., according to maritime tracking information.”

Seligman added, “The Comfort is undergoing repairs that are expected to be completed in April, while the Mercy is in the middle of a one-year maintenance period that began last July.”

On Sunday, The Washington Post first reported that maritime tracking data suggested “there are no U.S. hospital ships currently positioned to sail to Greenland.”

Also Sunday, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen responded to Trump’s announcement in a statement: “It’s a no thank you from here. 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.”

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,” according to The Post.

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.”

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