By Riane Lumer, Aleena Fayaz, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is sending a hospital boat to Greenland, the Arctic island and Danish territory he has sought to acquire.
“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 president posted on social media alongside an illustration of the naval hospital ship the USNS Mercy.
It is unclear what Trump was referring to in his post. Greenland and Denmark have free, nationalized health care systems.
CNN has reached out to the White House, the Danish Embassy in Washington, Landry’s office, the Danish government and Greenland’s parliament for more details. The Pentagon referred questions to US Northern Command, which in turn referred questions to the US Navy. The Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Landry, whom Trump tapped in December to serve as special envoy to Greenland, said on social media he is “proud to work” together with Trump on “this important issue.”
The US Navy has two mobile hospital ships, the USNS Mercy and the USNS Comfort, that support troops during deployments and provide services for US disaster relief and humanitarian operations. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the Navy deployed the USNS Comfort to New York City, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in the United States.
Strategically located Greenland is the world’s least densely populated country and, due to the limited network of roads, its 56,000 residents travel by boat, helicopter and plane between the island’s towns. The US has one military base in Greenland, the Pituffik Space Base, which is on the western coast of the island.
Trump’s post comes a month after his escalated efforts to obtain Greenland shook European allies as he asserted the US would settle for nothing less than total control of the country.
In late January, Trump announced “the framework of a future deal” on Greenland with the NATO chief, but his continued interest in the Arctic island raises questions about Greenland’s sovereignty.
The idea of US leadership has rattled Greenlanders, including municipal engineer Ludvig Petersen.
He previously told CNN that his main aversion to American control stems from the issue of private health care.
“I don’t like the idea of becoming part of America,” he said. “My primary concern is all this privatization of health care and education. It’s not something we are used to.”
The-CNN-Wire
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