President Donald Trump is linking his push for the U.S. to take over Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In a text message to Norway’s prime minister, Trump said that without the award, “I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.”
The message, first reported by PBS News, suggests that personal considerations, not just national security, are at play in Trump’s desire to make Greenland part of the U.S. He has offered to buy the semiautonomous island territory from Denmark and has indicated he might try to take it by force, setting up a potential conflict with allies in NATO.
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Denmark and its European allies strongly oppose ceding control, and Trump threatened over the weekend to impose tariffs on imports from those countries until the U.S. prevails.
It was not immediately clear why Trump sent the message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Although the Nobel Committee that awards the peace prize is based in Oslo, it is independent from the Norwegian government.
“Dear Jonas,” Trump wrote. “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
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Denmark colonized Greenland in the early 1700s. Its rights to the island were affirmed in a deal with the U.S. in the early 1900s.
He said Denmark could not protect Greenland from a Russian or Chinese attack. However, Article 5 of the NATO treaty declares that an attack on one member nation is an attack on all, meaning every member of the alliance — including the U.S. — would be required to counter such an attack.
“I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States,” Trump wrote. “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
Trump also questioned Denmark’s claim on Greenland.
“Why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” he wrote. “There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also.”
Denmark colonized Greenland in the early 1700s. Its rights to the island were confirmed in a 1916 agreement with the United States that also authorized the U.S. purchase of the Danish West Indies, according to the Danish Institute for International Studies.
Norwegian response
Støre said in a statement that Trump’s text came in response to a message on Sunday in which he asked to speak to the president about Greenland and his tariff threat, according to The New York Times.
Støre said he replied that there is a need to de-escalate the situation between the U.S. and European nations over Greenland. He also corrected Trump’s impressions about the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I have on several occasions clearly explained to Trump what is well known,” Støre said in the statement, “namely that it is an independent Nobel Committee, and not the Norwegian government, that awards the prize.”
Trump’s tariff threats
This latest development comes after European leaders spent the weekend scrambling to respond to Trump’s post on Truth Social on Saturday in which he said he would impose at 10% tariff on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, U.K., The Netherlands and Finland beginning on Feb. 1. Trump said he would raise the tariff to 25% in June “in order to protect Global Peace and Security … until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.“
The Wall Street Journal reported that the European Union has a list of American goods worth more than $100 billion that could be subject to retaliatory tariffs, possibly as early as Feb. 7. French officials have suggested unlocking a trade weapon called a “trade bazooka,” designed to hit American companies hard and fast.
“There will be a united and clear response from Europe, and we are now preparing coordinated countermeasures with our European partners,” German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said Monday. “We are ready to find solutions. We are extending our hand, but we are not prepared to be blackmailed.”
