US President Donald Trump has linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer feels “obligated to think purely about peace,” two European officials said on Monday.
President Trump’s message to Jonas Gahr Store appears to have intensified the conflict between Washington and its closest ally over his threat to take over Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, President Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on products from eight countries, including Norway, grouped around Denmark and Greenland.
Those countries issued strong condemnations. However, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to ease tensions on Monday. The White House has not ruled out the possibility of seizing the strategic Arctic island by force, but Starmer said he did not believe military action would take place.
“I think this can be resolved, and I think it should be resolved through calm discussion.”
Still, the U.S. leader’s message to Gar Store could further tear apart U.S.-Europe relations, already strained by disagreements over how to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine and previous disagreements over tariffs, military spending and immigration policy.
In a sign of rising tensions in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend to protest any efforts to take over the island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post on Monday that the threat of tariffs would not change his stance.
“We will not be under pressure,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s Minister of Business, Minerals, Energy, Justice and Equality, told The Associated Press that she was impressed by the allies’ swift response to the tariff threat, saying it showed countries recognized that “this is about more than Greenland.”
“I think a lot of countries are afraid of what will happen next if they let go of Greenland.”
President Trump sends message to Norwegian leader
Trump’s message to Girl Store, according to two European officials, read in part: “Given your country’s decision not to award me the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing eight wars plus, I no longer feel obligated to think purely about peace. Even though peace will always prevail, I can now think about what is good and appropriate for America.”
The report concluded that “the world will not be safe unless we take full and complete control of Greenland.”
The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the document had been forwarded to several European ambassadors in Washington. PBS first reported the contents of Trump’s memo.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach on Greenland during a brief question-and-answer session with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum is being held this week.
“I don’t know anything about the president’s letter to Norway,” Bessent said, before adding, “I think it’s a complete fabrication that the president would do something like this for the Nobel Prize.”
Bessent asserted that President Trump “sees Greenland as a strategic asset of the United States,” adding: “We are not going to entrust the security of the hemisphere to anyone else.”
The White House did not respond to questions about how or why Trump sent the message.
Girl Store acknowledged on Monday that it had received a text message from President Trump the day before, but did not release its contents.
The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a response to an earlier letter sent on his and Finnish President Alexander Stubb’s behalf, conveying his opposition to the tariff announcement, pointing to the need for de-escalation and suggesting a telephone conversation between the three leaders.
“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear: Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this issue,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “With regard to the Nobel Peace Prize, I have made it very clear to President Trump that, as is well known, this prize is awarded by the independent Nobel Committee, not by the Norwegian government.”
He told Norway’s TV2 that although he did not respond to messages, “I still believe that dialogue is wise” and that he hoped to meet Trump in Davos this week.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.
President Trump has publicly coveted the peace prize the commission awarded last year to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado. Last week, Machado presented Trump with a Nobel medal, which the committee says cannot be revoked, transferred or shared with anyone, but Trump has said he plans to keep it.
Starmer says trade war is in no one’s interest
In his latest threat to impose tariffs, President Trump suggested they were in retaliation for the symbolic sending of troops from European countries to Greenland last week, but he also suggested he was using the tariffs as leverage in negotiations with Denmark.
European governments said troops visited the island to assess security in the Arctic as part of a response to President Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.
Mr Starmer on Monday called President Trump’s tariff threats “completely wrong” and said a trade war is in no one’s interest.
He added: “Being pragmatic does not mean being passive, and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”
Six of the eight countries targeted are members of the European Union, a 27-member European Union that operates as a single trading economy. European Council President Antonio Costa said on Sunday that European Union leaders had expressed their “readiness to defend against all forms of coercion.” He announced a summit meeting on Thursday evening.
Mr Starmer suggested Britain, which is not part of the EU, would not consider retaliatory tariffs.
“My focus is to make sure we don’t get to that stage,” he said.
Denmark’s defense minister and Greenland’s foreign minister are scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that had been planned before the escalation.
