“Please talk to us instead of just making more or less random statements on social media,” Nielsen said later in the statement.
“Dialogue and co-operation require respect for the fact that decisions about our country are made here at home.”
Maritime tracking data further suggests there are no US hospital ships currently positioned to sail to Greenland.
Trump’s post yesterday on Truth Social follows months in which he unsettled European allies by threatening to take the Arctic territory from Denmark.
The White House eventually backed down and said the US will instead seek strategic agreements with Denmark. But the post signals that Trump may remain focused on provoking Denmark.
The President’s unexpected announcement came as Denmark revealed there was a case of medical distress near the island needing emergency attention. But it was the US that needed the help.
Denmark’s Arctic Command reported that it had evacuated a crew member of a US submarine in need of doctors.
“The crew member required urgent medical treatment and has been transferred to the Greenlandic health authorities and the hospital in Nuuk,” the Arctic Command said a statement.
“The evacuation took place within Greenlandic territorial waters, 7 nautical miles off Nuuk. It was carried out by the Danish Defence Seahawk helicopter. The helicopter was deployed from the inspection vessel Vædderen.”
That event was followed later in the day by Trump’s post, which featured what appears to be an AI-generated illustration of the USNS Mercy steaming towards the Arctic territory.
Trump made no mention of the emergency evacuation of the US sailor. He declared that he was “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!!!” said the post, which also reported that Trump was executing the action together with his envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.
Denmark quickly dismissed Trump’s announcement, saying it was not aware of any medical emergency in Greenland.
“The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs,” Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Denmark’s public broadcaster, DR.
“Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics.”
Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, also appeared to rebuff Trump’s plan, without mentioning him by name.
She wrote on Instagram that she is happy to live in a country where healthcare is free to everyone and that Greenland enjoys the same system.
The US Navy operates two hospital ships, the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy. Neither appears ready to deploy any time soon, and both were at a maintenance facility, Alabama Shipyard in Mobile, according to ship-tracking data.
Navy officials and officials with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond.
In December, the Pentagon said it had signed a US$16.7 million contract with the shipyard to place the Comfort in an extended period of maintenance beginning January 15 with expected completion by April 26.
In June, the Pentagon signed a US$18.7m deal with the same shipyard to place the Mercy in extended maintenance. Navy officials later said the work would take about a year.
According to gCaptain, a website that monitors ship movements, the Mercy “was firmly in dry dock” as of late January.
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