In a remarkable diplomatic communication, former US President Donald Trump has explicitly connected his renewed threats to acquire Greenland with his failure to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The extraordinary letter, sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, signals a significant escalation in transatlantic tensions over the future of the Arctic territory.
The Nobel Prize as a Catalyst for Action
The authenticity of the letter was confirmed by Prime Minister Støre himself to the Norwegian newspaper VG on Monday. Trump wrote that after being overlooked for the prestigious award, his strategic calculus had shifted. "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," the former president stated.
He added that this perceived snub freed him to "think about what is good and proper" for the United States. Støre explained the letter was a response to a brief message he had sent Trump earlier that day, jointly with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by an independent, five-member Norwegian committee, whose members are appointed by parliament but operate separately from the government. Trump had actively campaigned for last year's prize, which was ultimately awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. In a notable twist, Machado later dedicated her prize to Trump and personally presented him with her medal.
Greenland in the Crosshairs
Trump's rhetoric targeting Greenland, a vast, self-governing Danish territory, has intensified in recent weeks. He has publicly declared that the US would take control of the mineral-rich island "one way or the other", and over the weekend vowed on social media: "Now it is time, and it will be done!!!"
His letter to the Norwegian leader elaborated on this stance, questioning Denmark's historical claim to the territory. "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," Trump argued. He further contended that Denmark could not protect Greenland from rivals like Russia or China.
To pressure the involved nations, Trump has threatened to impose a 10% tariff on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland, starting 1 February. This move would persist until the US is permitted to purchase the island, which Trump frames as a national security imperative.
EU and NATO on Alert
The situation has sent shockwaves through European capitals and the NATO alliance. The EU's top diplomats convened for emergency crisis talks on Sunday, actively considering retaliatory tariffs and more severe economic sanctions against the United States.
The crisis is particularly acute for NATO, as Denmark is a founding member. Trump's refusal to rule out using military force to seize Greenland directly challenges the alliance's principles and the protections it affords member states' territories. In his letter, Trump claimed he had "done more for Nato than anyone else since its founding, and now Nato should do something for the United States".
He concluded with a stark assertion of American necessity, writing that the world was "not secure unless we have Complete and Total control of Greenland". This stance has plunged US-EU relations into a fresh crisis, with the strategic and resource-rich Arctic becoming a new flashpoint in international diplomacy.
