US President Donald Trump has told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gare Stoer that he no longer feels obligated to “think purely about peace” after the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not award her the Nobel Peace Prize.
In an unusual message to Store, first reported by PBS and confirmed by Norway’s prime minister, Trump linked his repeated threats to seize control of Greenland to the fact that he has not won the long-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.
“Given the decision not to award me the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing eight wars plus, I no longer feel obligated to think purely about peace,” Trump said. “Even though peace will always prevail, I can now think about what is good and appropriate for the United States of America.”
Storr acknowledged receiving the message from Trump and said it came shortly after Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubbe “communicated opposition to President Trump’s announced tariff increases on Norway, Finland, and some other countries.”
“As everyone knows, we have made it clear, including to President Trump, that the (Nobel Peace) Prize is awarded by the independent Nobel Committee, not by the Norwegian government,” he said in a statement.
President Trump’s letter comes after he threatened to impose a 10% tariff on European goods starting February 1, over European countries’ opposition to fellow NATO member Denmark’s plan to acquire the autonomous region of Greenland. President Trump’s threats have rattled NATO as the alliance, based on collective self-defense, faces the prospect that one member state could use force against another.
“Denmark can’t protect that land from Russia and China, so why would they have ‘ownership’ in the first place? There’s no written documentation, just that boats landed there hundreds of years ago. But we had boats landing there, too,” Trump said in the message.
Greenland, a vast arctic island, was incorporated into Denmark in 1953 as part of the global decolonization movement after World War II. Although it has autonomy, defense, security, and financial policy are still controlled by Denmark.
“I have done more for NATO than anyone else since its creation, and now NATO must do something for America. The world will not be safe unless we have full and complete control of Greenland,” Trump said in a memo to Store.
Although the United States has been the cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security for decades and has spent far more on defense than any other NATO member at the time, many NATO allies have participated in recent U.S. wars. After the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, 43 Danes were killed in action.
At a press conference in London, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Denmark is a “close ally” of the UK and the US and a “proud NATO member who has stood alongside us, including at great human cost”.
The Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Peace Prize to Venezuelan democratic opposition leader Maria Colina Machado, who presented the medal to Trump during their meeting in Washington last week. President Trump said it was a “great gesture of mutual respect.”
However, the Nobel Committee has since clarified that while the physical medals may change hands, the honors themselves cannot be transferred.
