U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the United States is sending a “great hospital boat” to Greenland to address what he described as “many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there.” In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday evening, Trump said that his administration is working with “fantastic Governor of Louisiana”, Jeff Landry, to send the hospital boat to Greenland.
In the post, Trump wrote: “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. It’s on the way!!!” The message included an AI-generated illustration depicting the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy navigating toward snowy Arctic landscapes.
Danish officials quickly rejected Trump’s claims about the presence of a healthcare crisis in Greenland. Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen stated on Sunday that Greenland “does not need medical assistance from other countries,” emphasising that the Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs, either locally or through specialised treatment in Denmark under agreements between Nuuk and Copenhagen.
The minister said, “The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs. They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialised treatment, they receive it in Denmark. So it’s not as if there’s a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland.”
In a veiled reference to Trump’s comments, Dannish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen wrote on Facebook, “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. You have the same approach in Greenland. Happy Sunday to you all”.
Greenlandic and Danish leaders have reiterated that the territory’s healthcare system is robust and self-sufficient for routine and emergency needs.
Ironically, Trump’s announcement came just hours after Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command reported evacuated a U.S. submarine crew member requiring urgent medical treatment from Greenlandic waters. On February 21, 2026, a Danish Defence Seahawk helicopter airlifted the individual, who was located about seven nautical miles outside Nuuk, Greenland’s capital. The crew member was transferred to local Greenlandic health authorities and admitted to the hospital in Nuuk for care.
While Trump announced sending a ‘great hospital boat’ to Greenland, there is no report of any movement of any such ship from the USA to the Greenland. Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that he was not aware of arrival of any such ship in Greenland. “Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics,” he said.
It is important to note that there have been no reports of any health crisis or widespread illness in Greenland, and there is no evidence to supporting Trump’s claim that there are many sick people in Greenland who are not getting medical care. In fact, access to healthcare system in Greenland is much better than the USA.
As an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland provides its residents with universal, free healthcare coverage, funded through public systems similar to those in Denmark and other Nordic countries. This stands in contrast to the United States, where medical care often involves high costs requiring mandatory private insurance.
Trump’s post indicates that Greenland has not gone out of his attention, after he was forced to back down from his attempts to annex Greenland after European leaders strongly opposed him. Trump maintains that US needs to own Greenland to protect the Arctic region from potential Russian and Chinese aggression.
