Greenland does not need medical assistance from other countries, Denmark's defence minister said, after US President Donald Trump claimed he was sending a hospital ship to the autonomous Danish territory.
"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," Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR.
In Greenland as in Denmark access to healthcare is free. There are five regional hospitals across the vast Arctic island, with the Nuuk hospital serving patients from all over the territory.
The Greenlandic local government signed an agreement with Copenhagen in early February to improve the treatment of Greenlandic patients in Danish hospitals.
Mr Trump yesterday posted on his social media platform Truth Social that "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!!!" he added.
Mr Trump has said the US must control Greenland to ensure its security, though he has backed off earlier threats to seize it after striking a "framework" deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to ensure greater US influence.
Mr Lund Poulsen told DR he was not aware of the hospital ship's possible arrival.
"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.
Separately, Denmark's Arctic Command announced that it had evacuated a crew member of a US submarine off the coast of Nuuk after the sailor requested urgent medical attention.
Last week, Denmark's King Frederik X was in Greenland for a three-day visit in a show of support for the territory.
"It is a great pleasure for me to be back in Greenland and to meet the Greenlandic people," the king told reporters after a meeting Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
He added that Greenland's people and their wellbeing were "very close to my heart."
"They always have been. They always will be," he said.
The king, who became monarch in 2024 after the abdication of his mother Queen Margrethe, last visited the island in April 2025.
He also visited in July 2024, with royal commentators noting that three visits in less than two years was unusual.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said yesterday she believed Mr Trump still wants to own Greenland despite dialling back his threats to seize it by force.
A US-Denmark-Greenland working group has been established to discuss the US's security concerns in the Arctic, but details have not been made public.
