The president of the United StatesDonald Trumphas announced its latest controversial measure regarding Greenland, whose annexation to the US has been one of its most controversial foreign policy ambitions. Through a message on social networks, he announced that he will send a “hospital ship” to the island.
The Republican president has stated that “it will be sent to provide medical assistance to people who require it and who do not receive these services on the island.” With a brief and forceful message, as is usually his style, he said the following on his social network Truth Social.
“In collaboration with the fantastic governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landrywe will send a large hospital ship to Greenland to care for the many sick people who do not receive medical care there. “It’s already on its way!” he stated.
In any case, according to maritime tracking data, there is no American hospital ship in condition to set sail for the territory of Greenland.
The US Navy currently has two hospital ships, the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy, but neither appears ready to deploy in the short term. Both were in a shipyard in Alabama on Sunday, undergoing maintenance work.
In any case, this new statement suggests that in Greenland there would be a deficit in health care that would be leaving patients without assistance, an idea that adds to Trump’s long series of controversial comments about the autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty.
This Donald Trump ad has caused confusion on both sides of the Atlantic. It coincides with Denmark’s revelation of a medical emergency off the island’s coast. However, the one who needed assistance was a crew member of a United States submarine.
The Danish Arctic Command reported early Saturday the evacuation of an American sailor who required urgent care, who was transferred to Nuuk hospital.
The operation was carried out in Greenland’s territorial waters, seven nautical miles from Nuuk, by a Danish Armed Forces Seahawk helicopter deployed from the inspection ship Vædderen.
After this health emergency occurred, Trump published a message accompanied by what appeared to be an artificial intelligence-generated image of the USNS Mercy hospital ship sailing towards the Arctic. He made no reference to the evacuation of the American sailor.
Although the Republican president maintains the idea of achieving the annexation of the island in some way, his new statement has caused surprise, both for the Greenlandic autonomous government and for Denmark, in line with other controversial statements about this territory.
The island’s authorities have responded that they have not requested the sending of any medical ship, and the prime minister made it clear that it will not be welcome, given that its citizens have free public healthcare. “The answer to the US offer is no, thank you.”
Furthermore, he has expressed that the health system they have is “free and universal” for all the inhabitants of the Arctic island, as it is a “fundamental pillar of our society.”
In parallel, he has taken advantage of the occasion to throw a hint at the private health system that governs the United States. “In Greenland, all citizens are guaranteed free public healthcare. That’s not how it works in the US“, he pointed out.
Nielsen has also criticized the US position on the island’s sovereignty and has urged the White House to maintain a formal dialogue, instead of making announcements on social networks about internal affairs:
“Please talk to us instead of making more or less random statements on the networks. Dialogue and cooperation require respect for the fact that decisions about our country are made here.”
It is important to remember that unlike Most European countries, the United States does not have a universal public health system. Medical coverage depends largely on private insurance, usually linked to employment.
Although there are public programs for the elderly and unemployed, millions of Americans currently lack insurance or face high costs for visits, medications and hospitalizations.
Access to health care, therefore, is largely conditioned by the economic capacity of each patient, which is why the Greenlandic authorities have taken the opportunity to respond to their message, recalling the health situation in the United States.
For their part, the Danish authorities have responded to this new message from Trump, recalling that “the Greenlandic population receives the health care they need.”
This is what the Danish Minister of Defense stated, Troels Lund Poulsenwho also told public radio and television DRthat Trump’s messages must be understood as “a new normal in international politics”, trying not to escalate this conflict.
The Danish Prime Minister expressed herself in a more forceful tone, Mette Frederiksenwho expressed in a post on Instagram, his pride in living in a country with a “free public health system for all”, among which are the inhabitants of the island of Greenland.