President Donald Trump announced last week that a U.S. Naval hospital ship was en route to Greenland, sparking outrage at yet another imperialist move on the Danish territory despite its residents’ repeated insistence they have no interest in joining the United States. Trump cited a supposed public health crisis going on in Greenland, without any details or explanation.
But according to the Wall Street Journal, no such hospital ship on the way.
“The U.S. has two hospital ships, the East Coast-based USNS Comfort and the West Coast-based USNS Mercy, which are designed as floating medical treatment facilities,” said the report. “Both vessels are currently in a shipyard in Mobile, Ala., according to maritime tracking information. The Comfort is undergoing repairs that are expected to be completed in April, while the Mercy is in the middle of a one-year maintenance period that began last July.”
Moreover, even if a ship were on the way, the report noted, it couldn’t do much.
“Even if the Pentagon were to send one of the ships to Greenland, Danish authorities would have to make a formal request for their assistance before they could dock on the island, one of the U.S. officials said,” said the report. “Danish officials have publicly rejected Trump’s offer to send a hospital ship.”
This comes after reporting that the Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens-Frederick Nielsen, rebuffed the offer of a hospital ship visit to the island, saying, “President Trump’s idea to send a US hospital ship here to Greenland has been duly noted. But we have a public health system where care is free for citizens.”
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