Trump says he’s sending hospital ship to Greenland

Servus · 2026-02-23T05:56:21-0600

Perpetual Student said:
So the poor sick Greenlanders have to wait until June for being rescued from the abysmal failing Danish healthcare system? But Trump wrote that help was under way! He didn't write to wait until June.

View attachment 376896

Underway doesn't mean immediately. It means as soon as possible. Is there a complaint that it's not going to happen sooner than possible?

Desk trauma · 2026-02-23T05:57:04-0600

The freedom cities thread. Everything about them is also not against the laws of physics.

Perpetual Student · 2026-02-23T05:58:46-0600

Servus said:
Underway doesn't mean immediately. It means as soon as possible. Is there a complaint that it's not going to happen sooner than possible?

"Underway" means on the move. Otherwise it is preparing for the trip.
Or the concept of a plan. Or a framework for action.

Servus · 2026-02-23T06:00:26-0600

Perpetual Student said:
"Underway" means on the move. Otherwise it is preparing for the trip.
Or the concept of a plan. Or a framework for action.

My point exactly.

Stopped_lurking · 2026-02-23T06:08:50-0600

Servus said:
I believe it's a possibility. That means it's uncertain as to whether they do or whether they don't. They might benefit from it or they might not. It's yes or no depending on all of the details involved. At this point in time there's insufficient data to determine the exact level of healthcare Greenlanders are receiving and whether or not they could benefit from supplementary healthcare provided by a US hospital boat.

So you don't know, fair. Then question becomes, why don't get the data? It is out there, Greenland have their own Department of Health (Peqqik.gl Peqqissutsit nittartakkami here is their portal).

Tuur · 2026-02-23T06:08:57-0600

Larniavc said:
What for? The already have hospitals.

Sigh. See my post above.

Stopped_lurking · 2026-02-23T06:34:34-0600

Tuur said:
Demark doesn't have to accept it. It can anchor in international waters and ferry patients to it. The most Denmark can do is prevent it from docking. If they prevent Icelanders from going to it, then Trump doesn't have to say a thing.

They wouldn't prevent it from docking or stop people going there. Even if they did I don't know how feasible it would be to anchor in international waters either (I don't know the depths and length of anchor chains), my guess is that only a subset of places in international water around Greenland can be reached by the anchor chains. I think the sea is at it's most shallow along the northeast coast, that is also where the ice is.

The weather is also a big hindrance for a significant portion of the year, only the southwest coast is routinely accessible by boat. Then you are closish to Nuuk anyway. Sea Ice Today | National Snow and Ice Data Center

Open question are any of the US hospital ships built to any ice classification standard?

Servus · 2026-02-23T06:36:48-0600

Stopped_lurking said:
So you don't know, fair. Then question becomes, why don't get the data? It is out there, Greenland have their own Department of Health (Peqqik.gl Peqqissutsit nittartakkami here is their portal).

Is there statistical data regarding the level and quality of healthcare being provided that I'm not seeing?

Stopped_lurking · 2026-02-23T06:54:00-0600

Servus said:
Is there statistical data regarding the level and quality of healthcare being provided that I'm not seeing?

Not for public consumption, you would have to ask them for the data. The Greenland government have access to them (they are paying for it after all), they keep records of all doctors, all nurses, all treatments, all waiting times, all staffing.

I didn't say that you will be given access to it, just that they have a department of health.

If US researchers would ask for it they can negotiate access. It seems silly to perhaps send a boat, because there might be a need. The normal way would be to first get the facts, determine if there is a problem and if so propose a solution or what can be done to lessen the burden.

hedrick · 2026-02-23T07:03:31-0600

Servus said:
Is there statistical data regarding the level and quality of healthcare being provided that I'm not seeing?

Because of the population size and number of areas that are hard to access, it's not the same as typical Euopean areas. Think of a small city surrounded by rural areas, some of which are distant or hard to access. Perhaps parts of Appalachia or an Indian reservation. They do their best, and have a stronger commitment from the government than those areas in the US, but that can't undo geography and population distribution. Complex cases have to be sent to Denmark or elsewhere.

Health worker perspectives on Greenlandic healthcare – resources, sustainability and work-life-balance - PMC

Greenland faces severe challenges with the recruitment and retention of health workers. A healthcare reform from 2010 did not have the expected effect. On this background we explored health worker perspectives on barriers and opportunities for ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

It's unlikely, however, that a ship will be able to help.

The challenges in Greenland have analogs in the US, and the US hasn't done a good job dealing with them. As a US state, regional hospitals would find it hard to stay in business. Without funding for universal healthcare, it's very unlikely that things would even stay the same, except possibly for the largest city. But it would depend upon what happened to the population. if US companies invested a lot, you could imagine lots of workers with health insurance in some areas getting good health care, and the rest of the system getting worse.

Nithavela · 2026-02-23T07:05:18-0600

Tuur said:
Demark doesn't have to accept it. It can anchor in international waters and ferry patients to it. The most Denmark can do is prevent it from docking. If they prevent Icelanders from going to it, then Trump doesn't have to say a thing.

Would be a bit of a trek from Iceland to the international waters in front of greenland.

wing2000 · 2026-02-23T07:25:37-0600

The Defense Department (aka Department of War) deferred questions to the White House.
It's quite obvious the POTUS will put anything on Truth Social....

Larniavc · 2026-02-23T07:43:05-0600

Tuur said:
Sigh. See my post above.

Do you think the Greenlandians need external medical support from a Nation that implied they might use military force to take ownership of it?

It’s the most dumbfounding infantile attempt at manipulation I’ve yet to see from Trump and his cabal.

Nithavela · 2026-02-23T07:43:12-0600

wing2000 said:
The Defense Department (aka Department of War) deferred questions to the White House.
It's quite obvious the POTUS will put anything on Truth Social....

Maybe it was the staffer who posted the Obama monkey pictures?

hedrick · 2026-02-23T07:44:19-0600

These numbers are going to be a bit approximate and maybe somewhat out of date:

Doctors / population

4.5 / 1000 denmark
3 / 1000 us

I've seen statements that Greenland is 1/3 the doctors / population of denmark, or around 50. Gteenland is huge, but only has about 57,000 people. A US hopsital ship has around 1000 medical staff. I couldn't find how many are doctors, but it's possible that it could dwarf the total of Greenland.

But unless it's going to stay permanently, it's not clear what problem is solves.

Larniavc · 2026-02-23T07:47:35-0600

Tuur said:
Icelanders

What? Icelandians would have to truck to Greenland and fight through the Greenlandians to get to the not there hospital ship?

Smh

Tuur · 2026-02-23T07:57:39-0600

Larniavc said:
Do you think the Greenlandians need external medical support from a Nation that implied they might use military force to take ownership of it?

It’s the most dumbfounding infantile attempt at manipulation I’ve yet to see from Trump and his cabal.

It sounds like you didn't read my post. Here it is:

Tuur said:
Something not mentioned is that Denmark doesn't exactly have a sterling record when it comes to the Inuit. Whatever the situation may be now, that perception may still be there among the Inuit. And if there's going to be a rapid build-up of facilities within the agreed upon boundaries of US installations, it would be good to have something handy until base facilities can handle the increase. And yes, if there is anticipated to be some sort of conflict in the region, one that countries like Denmark may want to sit out, it would be good not to have to rely on their facilities.

In either event, there's no reason to accept the stated reason at face value. Positioning a hospital ship with the rhetoric that it's to help Greenlanders sound a lot better than the other possible reasons. Even "Trump's nuts" works better than "Get ready for war." And if the stated reason sits well with the Inuit, it makes a nice, political, wedge, particularly if long-range plans include annexation of Greenland.

Bottom line is there's no reason to accept the state reason at face value. Just because Trump said it's heading there to help Icelanders doesn't mean that's the real reason.

Tuur · 2026-02-23T08:00:06-0600

Larniavc said:
What? Icelandians would have to truck to Greenland and fight through the Greenlandians to get to the not there hospital ship?

Smh

Shakes head.

Nithavela · 2026-02-23T08:28:46-0600

It's possible that the hospital ship is sent to help greenlands sled dogs, which have been suffering from the unseasonably high temperatures preventing the use of sleds in many places. The dogs might benefit from psychological support and perhaps education in a different field of work.

For Greenland's Sled Dogs, It Was a Troubling January

Rising temps from climate change melt the Arctic nation's ice, hampering its resourceful canines

www.newser.com

Larniavc · 2026-02-23T08:31:06-0600

Tuur said:
Bottom line is there's no reason to accept the state reason at face value. Just because Trump said it's heading there to help Icelanders doesn't mean that's the real reason.

Ah, I see. I be your pardon.

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Trump says he’s sending hospital ship to Greenland

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