Critics say Trump's 'frankly unreal' Greenland post shows he's 'suffering from dementia'

President Donald Trump made the bizarre announcement Saturday that he would be sending a hospital ship to Greenland on an apparent humanitarian mission, and with no explanation for what prompted the expedition – but critics have zeroed in on what they say is “almost certainly” the cause for the president’s confusing statement.

There is no documented health crisis in Greenland, a territory of Denmark, with all of its citizens entitled to universal health care that’s free at the point of service, as it is in most moderately wealthy nations other than the United States. Nevertheless, Trump suggested that he would be deploying the USNS Mercy to the arctic island, and that the hospital ship was already “on the way.”

As noted by critics, the peculiar announcement came within hours of an incident in which an American service member aboard a U.S. submarine off the coast of Greenland was evacuated by Danish forces and taken to a hospital after falling ill.

“I've now seen a number of comments on this mysterious Truth Social post from Donald Trump,” wrote Lars Christensen, a Danish economist, to their more than 32,000 followers on X.

“It demonstrates with absolute clarity that the man is suffering from dementia and cannot grasp the most basic connections. Why do I say this? Because what his post is almost certainly prompted by is the fact that the Danish navy evacuated a sick crew member from an American submarine near Greenland within the last few days.”

Trump’s announcement comes amid his ongoing and increasingly threatening campaign to acquire Greenland for the United States, which has included the deployment of a submarine off the coast of the arctic island.

Whether the USNS Mercy can even depart to Greenland is another open question, with maritime expert Mike Schuler noting in a report Saturday that the hospital ship is currently sitting in a dry dock in Alabama undergoing maintenance, maintenance that appears scheduled to continue through July.

“This Trump post is frankly unreal in its cynicism and gaslighting. He posted this because a US nuclear submarine – whose very presence near Greenland is already deeply provocative given the context – was just rescued by Danish military forces after one of its sailors fell ill,” wrote Arnaud Bertrand, an entrepreneur and frequent political commentator, in a social media post on X to their more than 380,000 followers.

“Denmark graciously rescued the sailor and evacuated him to treat him in a hospital in Greenland. The cherry on the cake is that there's no ‘great hospital boat’ coming to Greenland because both U.S. hospital ships – the USNS Mercy and the USNS Comfort – are currently incapacitated, undergoing maintenance. So ‘It's on the way!!!’ is simply a bold face lie.”