Trump envoy rebukes Greenland leader for rejecting hospital ship proposal
Greenland’s rejection of President Donald Trump sending a U.S. military hospital ship has touched off a private-public healthcare debate amid ongoing diplomatic talks about Arctic security.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Sunday turned down Trump’s offer, and now Trump’s special envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, has weighed in.
“Shame on Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen!” Landry wrote in response to a Fox News report on Nielsen’s objection. “President Donald J. Trump and America care. After speaking to many Greenlanders about the day to day problems they face, one issue stood out — healthcare.”
Greenland has sought more self-governance from Denmark under the Self Government Act in 2009 to take more local authority under home rule, but Danish officials’ instant rejection of Trump’s offer is aligned with Greenland’s own rejection that came later Sunday.
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“President Trump’s idea of sending an American hospital ship here to Greenland has been noted,” Nielsen wrote in a translated Facebook post. “But we have a public healthcare system where treatment is free for citizens.
“It is a deliberate choice.”
Greenland remains open to dialogue and cooperation with the U.S., with a caveat, according to Nielsen.
“But talk to us instead of just making more or less random outbursts on social media,” Nielsen said in his own public Facebook protestation.
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Greenland’s “free for citizens” care is not sufficient, Landry argued in his Facebook response posted to his campaign’s page.
“Many villages and small towns lack basic services that Americans often take for granted,” Landry’s post continued. “Small settlements are without permanent doctors, diagnostic tools, or specialist care – forcing residents to travel great distances for vital treatments that should be available at home.”
The healthcare issue underlies the overreaching Trump hopes to annex Greenland to secure the strategic Arctic region from Russian and Chinese designs, calling it a vital issue for “national security” for both the U.S. and the NATO alliance.
“A healthy Greenland is vital for America’s national security,” Landry’s post concluded. “America is committed to defending Greenland, and that begins by ensuring its people are defended against basic illnesses and ailments.
“These missions matter because health is inseparable from security. America’s commitment to defending Greenland must begin with ensuring its people are healthy.”
The recent dust-up came after Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command 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 of Nuuk.
“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,” Trump wrote Saturday night on Truth Social. “It’s on the way!!!”
That post sparked objections from both Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Sunday.
“The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs,” Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR, according to Reuters. “They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialized treatment, they receive it in Denmark.
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“So it’s not as if there’s a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland.”
Frederiksen spun the Trump offer into a political debate on public healthcare.
“Am happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all,” Frederiksen wrote in a translated post, sharing a Democrat attack point on Trump’s Republican Party’s struggles to reform what Trump has rebuked as a “failure” of Obamacare. “Where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment. You have the same approach in Greenland.”
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The U.S. Navy has two hospital ships, the Mercy and the Comfort. Both were last docked in Alabama for repairs, according to Reuters.
Greenland rejects Trump’s hospital ship proposal, citing existing free healthcare system
Greenland’s prime minister publicly rebuked President Donald Trump on Sunday, rejecting his proposal to send a U.S. hospital ship to the Arctic territory and urging him to stop making “random” social media posts about its future.
Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen issued the response in a pointed Facebook post following Trump’s announcement.
“We say no thank you from here,” Nielsen wrote. “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.”
The prime minister also contrasted Greenland’s system with that of the U.S., writing that, in America, “it costs money to go to the doctor.”
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Nielsen said Greenland is “always” open to dialogue with the U.S. but urged Trump to engage directly.
“Talk to us instead of just making more or less random outbursts on social media,” he wrote. “Dialogue and cooperation require respect for decisions about our country being made here at home.”
On Saturday, Trump announced on Truth Social that his administration was working with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to send a hospital ship to Greenland to care for people who are sick and “not being taken care of there.”
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Landry was designated special envoy to Greenland in December and has held formal discussions outlining Trump’s plans to strengthen Arctic security amid threats from Russia and China.
In late January, Landry spoke with NATO leaders and expressed support for a “framework of a future deal” to expand U.S. influence in the region.
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Trump’s offer came after Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command evacuated a crew member from a U.S. submarine seven nautical miles outside Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.
The crew member was transferred by a Danish Defense Seahawk helicopter to a hospital in Nuuk and handed over to Greenlandic health authorities, the Joint Arctic Command said.
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The U.S. Navy operates two hospital ships – the USNS Mercy and the USNS Comfort – both of which were last docked in Alabama for repairs, according to Reuters.
Trump sending US military hospital ship to Greenland to ‘take care’ of sick
President Donald Trump‘s designs to take over Greenland have been quiet for a few weeks, but a Joint Arctic Command medical evacuation by Denmark on Saturday now has the U.S. sending a “great hospital boat” to take care of the “sick.”
“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,” Trump wrote Saturday night on Truth Social. “It’s on the way!!!”
Gov. Landry was designated the special envoy to Greenland in December and held formal discussions of the road map of Trump’s designs to solidify Arctic security from threats from Russia or China.
Then in late January, Landry spoke with NATO leadership and expressed support for a “framework of a future deal” to expand U.S. influence in the region.
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Landry, who was in Washington, D.C., for the national governors meeting late last week, thanked Trump for his support for Greenland.
“Proud to work with you on this important issue!” Landry replied on X to Trump’s Truth Social post.
The news comes as Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command 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 of Nuuk.
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The crew member has been transferred to the Greenlandic health authorities via a Danish Defense Seahawk helicopter to a hospital in Nuuk, according to the Joint Arctic Command.
Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen did not directly reject Trump’s overture, but he did tell Danish broadcaster DR on Sunday that Greenland is all set.
“The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs,” Poulsen said. “They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialized treatment, they receive it in Denmark.
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“So it’s not as if there’s a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland.”
Danish King Frederik paid a second visit to Greenland in a year last week, an attempt to demonstrate unity with the territory in the face of Trump’s push to buy the island.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen did not directly address the Trump post on his own Facebook account hours later, but she did extoll socialist ideology on healthcare “for all.”
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“Am happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all,” Frederiksen wrote in a translated post, sharing a Democrat attack point on Trump’s Republican Party’s struggles to reform what Trump has rebuked as a “failure” of Obamacare. “Where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment. You have the same approach in Greenland.”
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The U.S. Navy has two hospital ships, the Mercy and the Comfort. Both were last docked in Alabama for repairs, according to Reuters.