Greenland's premier says 'no thanks' to the hospital ship offered by Trump

Greenland's premier, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, publicly rejected President Donald Trump's proposal to send a U.S. hospital ship to the Arctic territory. The response came this Sunday via a Facebook post, where the Greenlandic leader welcomed the offer, but made it clear that his government does not consider it necessary.

Trump announced on Saturday on Truth Social that his administration is working with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry to send a hospital ship to Greenland to care for sick people who, he said, "are not being cared for there."

In his message, Nielsen maintained that Greenland has a public health system in which care is free for citizens and contrasted that model with that of the United States, where, he said, going to the doctor costs money. "We say no thank you from here," he wrote. At the same time, he affirmed that his country is "always" willing to engage in dialogue with Washington, but asked that any conversation be carried out directly and respectfully, rather than through social media posts.

Recent incident and naval capabilities

The announcement of the possible dispatch of the hospital ship came after Denmark's Joint Arctic Command evacuated a U.S. submarine crewman seven nautical miles off Nuuk. The serviceman was flown by Danish Defense Seahawk helicopter to a hospital in the Greenlandic capital and handed over to local health authorities.