Denmark evacuation sparks confusion after Trump says hospital ship is 'on the way'
Early Saturday, denmark’s Arctic Command announced it had evacuated a crew member of a U. S. submarine to Greenland for emergency care — and President Trump posted that a hospital ship was "on the way!!!", a claim U. S. military officials say is not happening.
Denmark military evacuates U. S. submariner
Denmark’s Arctic Command said it evacuated a crew member of a U. S. submarine and transported the sailor to Greenland for emergency medical treatment. The announcement came early Saturday and prompted immediate questions about what U. S. assistance, if any, would follow for the self-governing Danish territory.
No U. S. hospital ship orders, officials say
After the president posted that he was deploying "a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, " U. S. military channels they had received no orders to send Navy vessels to Greenland. A request for clarification was passed from the Pentagon to U. S. Northern Command, then to the Navy, and was sent on to the White House, which declined to comment.
Both U. S. hospital ships are in Mobile, Ala.
The United States operates two hospital ships, the East Coast-based USNS Comfort and the West Coast-based USNS Mercy. Both vessels are in a shipyard in Mobile, Ala.; the Comfort is undergoing repairs expected to be completed in April, and the Mercy is in the middle of a one-year maintenance period that began last July. Military officials say those schedules mean neither ship is currently available for deployment to Greenland.
The discrepancy between the presidential post and the military status of the ships has left officials and observers sorting through a short chain of events: denmark’s Arctic Command moved to evacuate a sick submariner to Greenland early Saturday; the president publicly said a hospital ship was "on the way!!!"; and Pentagon personnel affirmed they had received no deployment orders for Navy hospital vessels.
The initial report that no U. S. hospital ship was en route has not been independently verified by all outlets, and multiple news organizations have noted the two hospital ships appear to be in dry dock in Alabama. Officials involved in the evacuation confirmed only the immediate medical transfer and the subsequent transfer of inquiries among U. S. military commands.
Officials also noted that Greenland did not request a hospital ship. With both the Comfort and the Mercy undergoing work in Mobile, Ala., Navy planners have not scheduled either vessel for a deployment to Greenland in the wake of the evacuation.
Work on the USNS Comfort is expected to finish in April, and the USNS Mercy remains in a maintenance period that began last July. Military officials have said there are no orders to move hospital ships to Greenland; the next confirmed timeline in the public record is the Comfort’s expected repairs completion in April.
