NOTE: "Hospital ship" is sometimes corrected to "hospital boat", as Trump writes "hospital boat" in his post. The post is accompanied by an AI-generated image of a hospital ship named USNS Mercy.
Donald Trump has made a new statement about Greenland. This time the president writes that he, in cooperation with the US special envoy, Jeff Landry, will send a hospital ship to Greenland:
- In cooperation with the fantastic governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are sending a fantastic hospital ship to Greenland to take care of the many sick people who are not being taken care of there, the president writes and emphasizes:
- It's on its way!!!
The announcement is accompanied by an AI-generated image showing the hospital ship USNS Mercy with an American flag.
The president does not refer to any further information from American authorities or anything else, so what such an operation specifically means is unknown.
On X, Jeff Landry has shared Trump's post, and he thanks the president and writes that he is proud to cooperate with him in this important area.
The announcement from Trump comes shortly after a crew member from a US submarine was evacuated on Saturday and flown for treatment by the Greenlandic Health Service in Nuuk. According to the Arctic Command, the crew member needed urgent medical treatment.
Several Trump supporters have previously criticized Denmark for poor health conditions in Greenland. The health sector was taken over in 1992 and is the responsibility of Greenland. This year, however, an agreement has been made where Denmark will pay around 200 million kroner per year for the treatment of Greenlandic patients in Denmark.
If Donald Trump and his supporters want to focus on a sore point, they can be said to have hit the right spot, as the quality and level of service of the healthcare system regularly causes great debate.
The healthcare system is, among other things, pressured by high costs for temporary workers. The Greenlandic Health Council concluded in its first report, published in the fall of 2025, that the healthcare system suffers from "chronic staff shortages and far too many temporary workers."
After Trump has expressed several times that the US needs Greenland for the sake of the country's national security, negotiations have been initiated between the US, Greenland and Denmark on whether it is possible to meet American security interests.
The Government of Greenland and the Danish government have emphasized that the Kingdom's red lines, which are the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom, as well as the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination, must be respected in the negotiations.
Sermitsiaq is working to obtain a comment on the matter from the Government of Greenland.
