Donald Trump stoked tensions with Nato allies over Greenland in a stark message to Norway’s prime minister, warning that he “no longer feels an obligation to think purely of peace” after he was snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The president insisted that the United States should control Greenland because Denmark cannot protect it from Russia and China, contesting Denmark’s long-established claim to the territory.
“I have done more for Nato than any other person since its founding, and now, Nato should do something for the United States,” he told prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre in the letter leaked this morning. “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
He appeared to blame allies for his cataclysmic shift in foreign policy, arguing that because Norway did not give him the Nobel Peace Prize last year, he could now put US interests first.
Støre said on Monday that he has repeatedly explained to Trump that an independent committee awards the prize. He said the letter was in response to a text to the US leader on behalf of himself and Finnish president Alexander Stubb.
Trump’s rhetoric on Greenland has sharpened since he was snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize last year
The letter in full reads:
“Dear Jonas: 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.
“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also.
“I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”
Trump’s ongoing peace prize row
Donald Trump has been embroiled in a row with Norway since missing out on last year’s peace prize - despite the country not deciding who wins.
The US president has repeatedly insisted that he deserved the prize for having resolved numerous wars in his second term. The Independent reviewed the claims ahead of the anniversary of his inauguration this week.
He wrote on his Truth Social platform on 7 January: “I single-handedly ENDED 8 WARS, and Norway, a NATO Member, foolishly chose not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize.”
The winner, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, presented Trump with her prize medal at the White House last week, prompting the independent Nobel Foundation to reiterate that a prize cannot, even symbolically, be transferred.
“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute said on Friday. “The decision is final and stands for all time.”
Nato tensions spike over Greenland
Norway joined seven European allies in reifying their solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland following Trump's threat to annex the Arctic island.
"As members of NATO, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest," Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain said in a statement on Sunday.
"Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
Norway’s foreign minister said the plan to impose tariffs on the countries was “unacceptable”. British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said in a subsequent address on Monday that the threat of using tariffs against allies was “completely wrong”.
He said that any decision about the future of Greenland belongs to Denmark alone, and urged that a trade war would be in nobody’s interests.
Trump on Saturday vowed to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland. He has refused to rule out military intervention if a deal cannot be reached.
"NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that "you have to get Russian threat away from Greenland." Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it," Trump wrote in a post on the social media website he owns called Truth Social.
The encroaching presence of China and Russia makes Greenland vital to US security interests, Trump has said. Danish and other European officials have pointed out that Greenland is already covered by Nato’s collective security pact.
