Trump says he will send hospital ship to Greenland

Donald Trump intensified one of the most complex diplomatic disputes of his government by announcing, on Saturday (21), that he intends to send a hospital ship to Greenland.

According to the American president, the mission will be humanitarian, “to care for many who are sick and are not being cared for there”. The government of Denmark, the country with jurisdiction over the territory, rejected the offer this Sunday (22), stating that the local population already receives efficient and free medical care.

According to Trump, the USNS Mercy ship is already on its way to Greenland, in an operation coordinated with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. The message, posted on the president’s network, Truth Social, was accompanied by an image of the vessel near icy mountains, apparently generated by artificial intelligence.

Also on Saturday, the Danish Arctic Command had to evacuate the American crew member of a submarine for emergency care in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. The episode, treated as routine by Copenhagen, may have served as a trigger for Trump’s movement in the following hours.

Response with provocation

Denmark’s Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsen, declared that the island does not need external intervention in its public health: “The population of Greenland receives the necessary medical attention in its own territory dependent on the Crown of Denmark. There is no need for special health initiatives.”

Mette Frederiksen, the country’s prime minister, also countered Trump’s criticism, defending the Danish social democratic model. “I’m happy to live in a country where access to healthcare is free and equal for everyone. Where it’s not health insurance and wealth that determine whether you receive appropriate treatment,” he said, in a critique of the US healthcare system, which largely depends on private insurance.

“Piece of ice”

Greenland is a central part of NATO’s defense structure and occupies a privileged geographic position in the Arctic, a region that has gained increasing strategic importance in the face of Russian military expansion and Chinese economic advance on the continent.

The Pituffik Space Base, located on the island, monitors intercontinental missile launches and represents one of the key points of American security in the northern hemisphere. Trump, who has openly expressed his desire for the US to take control of Greenland, has reinforced the argument that only Washington would be able to guarantee the defense of the territory in the event of a conflict.

“If there is a war, many actions will take place on this piece of ice,” said the Republican. “It is a matter of strategic national and international security.”