Donald Trump has linked his repeated threats to seize control of Greenland to the fact that he has not been awarded the Nobel peace prize in an extraordinary letter sent to the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre.
The US president said in the letter – the authenticity of which was confirmed by Støre to the Norwegian newspaper VG on Monday – that after failing to win the prize, he no longer felt the need to think “purely of peace”.
“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,” he said, adding he could now “think about what is good and proper” for the US.
Støre told VG that the letter had “come in response to a short message to President Trump from me earlier in the day, on behalf of myself and the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb”.
Trump has ramped up his rhetoric against Greenland, a largely self-governing part of Denmark, in recent weeks, saying the US would take control of it “one way or the other”. He said on social media at the weekend: “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”
The US president on Saturday threatened to impose a 10% tariff on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland from 1 February until the USis allowed to purchase the Arctic island.
The EU’s top diplomats met for crisis talks on Sunday, weighing retaliatory tariffs and more serious economic sanctions as transatlantic tensions continued to spiral over Washington’s push to control the territory, which it says it needs for national security.
In his letter to Støre, Trump said Denmark “cannot protect” Greenland from Russia or China, adding: “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.”
The US president said he had “done more for Nato than anyone else since its founding, and now Nato should do something for the United States”. The world was “not secure unless we have Complete and Total control of Greenland”, he said.
Trump has rocked the EU and Nato by refusing to rule out military force to seize the strategically important, mineral-rich island, which is covered by many of the protections offered by the two organisations since Denmark is a member of both.
The Nobel peace prize is awarded by the the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member private body whose members – mostly retired politicians – are appointed by Norway’s parliament, but whose decisions are independent of the government.
Trump campaigned hard to win last year’s prize, which was awarded to María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader. She collected her prize in Oslo last month but has since dedicated it to Trump and last week gave her medal to him.
Støre said that he had “clearly explained, including to President Trump, what is well known – the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee”.
