“No thanks.” Greenland rejects offer from Trump, who announced a hospital ship “is on the way”
Warm sunset light reflected on a hilltop as people walk along a snow-covered street in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 21, 2026. PHOTO: Mads Claus Rasmussen/AFP/Profimedia
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Sunday rejected US President Donald Trump's idea to send a hospital ship to Greenland, saying “no thanks” to the White House leader's proposal, according to Reuters. Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants the autonomous territory to come under US control.
On Saturday, Trump announced on social media that he was working with the governor of Louisiana and his special envoy for Greenland, Jeff Landry, to send a medical ship to the region.
“I noted President Trump's idea to send an American hospital ship here to Greenland. But we have a public health system where treatment is free for citizens. It's a deliberate choice,” Nielsen wrote in a Facebook post.
Nielsen said Greenland remains open to dialogue and cooperation, including with the United States.
“But talk to us instead of releasing more or less impulsive statements on social media,” he said.
Greenland, with a population of about 57,000, has not recently reported significant medical needs that would justify the presence of a hospital ship.
The public health system includes clinics and the Queen Ingrid hospital in Nuuk for complex cases, and occasionally patients are transferred to Denmark, dpa said. AFP reports that in the autonomous Arctic territory, as in the entire Danish kingdom, access to healthcare is free. Just earlier this month, the Greenlandic government signed an agreement with Copenhagen to improve the treatment of islanders in mainland hospitals.
Trump's announcement
The US plans to send a hospital ship to Greenland, announced President Donald Trump, who has threatened several times recently to annex Greenland. The American president announced on his Truth Social network that the ship “will take care of many people who are sick and not taken care of there”, a statement that dpa believes could increase tensions between the US and Denmark, NATO allies, writes Agerpres.
“It's on its way!” the US president added, calling it a “great” hospital ship.
The U.S. Navy has two hospital ships with 100 beds each, including 80 for intensive care, generally deployed after natural disasters such as earthquakes or hurricanes, as well as to assist in U.S. ports at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Hospital ships have minimal crews while at anchor, so full mobilization cannot be done immediately.
Denmark's reaction
The Danish Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsen, reacted on Sunday to the announcement of the American President Donald Trump, writes AFP, according to Agerpres.
“The Greenlandic population gets the medical care they need. They get it either in Greenland or, if special treatment is needed, in Denmark. So there is no need for a special health initiative in Greenland,” Poulsen told Danish television DR.
Poulsen noted that Trump has been sending short messages about Greenland all the time, which is “undoubtedly the expression of the new normal in international politics.”
