The hospital ship USNS Mercy arrives at the Port of Los Angeles to assist area medical facilities during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in San Pedro, California, U.S., March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake
COPENHAGEN, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Sunday “no thanks” to U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of sending a hospital ship to Greenland, a territory that Trump has repeatedly said he wishes to take over.
Trump said on Saturday on social media he was working with Louisiana Governor and special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, to send a hospital boat to Greenland.
Read Also: Trump Announces Greenland Hospital Ship Mission as Mercy and Comfort Sit in Alabama Shipyard
“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.
Nielsen said Greenland remained open to dialog and cooperation, also with the U.S.
“But talk to us instead of just making more or less random outbursts on social media,” he said.
Greenland, Denmark and the U.S. late last month launched diplomatic talks to resolve the crisis between the parties, following months of tension within the NATO defense alliance over Trump’s threats against the Arctic territory.
Trump’s post on the ship came hours after Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command said it had evacuated a crew member who required urgent medical treatment from a U.S. submarine in Greenlandic waters, seven nautical miles outside of Greenland’s capital, Nuuk. It was unclear if the post had any connection to the evacuation.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Louise Rasmussen)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026.
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