President Trump’s suggested Greenlanders are all sick and need more help than their existing health care system could provide. Trump has maintained a long-known eagerness to seize the Arctic island, claiming annexing it is crucial to U.S. security.
The spark appeared to be the evacuation Saturday of a crew member from a U.S. submarine docked off Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The crew member was evacuated 8 miles off Greenland’s capital of Nuuk and brought to a hospital in the city by a Danish Seahawk helicopter that had been stationed on an inspection ship in the vicinity, the Danish Joint Arctic Command said in a social media statement.
The rescue prompted Trump, who has waffled between cajoling and threatening his way into the Arctic island’s mineral reserves, to try a new tack. Having been thwarted in his attempts to either “buy” the autonomous, self-governing territory from Denmark, or wrest it militarily, Trump now has become concerned with Greenlanders’ health.
“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, referring to the person he’d appointed as his envoy to Greenland in December. “It’s on the way!!!”
The White House amplified the post, which was accompanied by a rendering of one of the ships, the United States Naval Ship (USNS) Mercy, sailing majestically on open ocean.
The leaders of both Greenland and Denmark on Sunday pointed out their health care system, despite some flaws, beats that of the U.S., and declined the offer, which they hadn’t been officially informed about.
“It’s going to be a no thank you from here,” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote in a statement on Facebook. “President Trump’s idea to send an American hospital ship here to Greenland is noted. But we have a public health system where treatment is free for citizens. It’s a deliberate choice. And a basic part of our society. It’s not like that in the United States, where it costs money to go to the doctor.”
King Frederik X of Denmark (2nd L) and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen (L) visit the Arctic Basic Training in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, on Friday. The Arctic Basic Training takes place in Kangerlussuaq and is run by the Arctic Command, the Danish Defense headquarters in Greenland. (Photo by Bo Amstrup / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images)
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen echoed the sentiments.
“Am happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all, where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment,” she wrote Sunday on Facebook.
Both ships are in drydock in Alabama and undergoing maintenance for the foreseeable future, according to maritime news website GCaptain.
“Donald Trump wants to send a poorly maintained hospital ship to Greenland,” wrote Aaja Chemnitz, one of the two Greenlandic politicians in the Danish parliament, in a Facebook post headlined, “Another day. Another crazy news story.” “It seems rather desperate and does not contribute to the permanent and sustainable strengthening of the healthcare system that we need.”
Nielsen also suggested Trump talk directly with Greenland’s inhabitants.
“We are always open to dialogue and collaboration,” Nielsen wrote. “But talk to us now instead of just coming up with more or less random outbursts on social media. Dialogue and cooperation require respect that decisions about our country are made at home.”
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