Trump links Greenland demand to Nobel Peace Prize snub in leaked message

London: Europe faces a spiralling dispute with Donald Trump over his demand for Greenland after the US president warned that he no longer felt obliged to pursue peace because he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

In a leaked text message that stunned observers, Trump told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that the peace prize decision was a factor in his thinking about gaining control of the Arctic territory.

The message heightens fears about Trump authorising drastic action to pursue his claim to Greenland despite moves from European leaders to oppose his demand and discuss a possible trade retaliation against the US at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

Trump expressed his frustration at being overlooked for the peace prize in a decision by the Nobel Committee in Oslo to recognise Venezuelan democratic campaigner María Corina Machado instead, and he wrongly blamed Norway and its government for the outcome.

“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,” he wrote.

“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.”

The message was copied to European ambassadors in Washington and obtained by Nick Schifrin, foreign affairs and defence correspondent for PBS News.

Trump has repeatedly claimed to have stopped eight wars, although India has disputed his claim to have arranged its peace with Pakistan. Another conflict he claimed to have ended, between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, has resumed.

Gahr Støre confirmed on Monday that he had received the text message from Trump.

Trump later said he was “100 per cent” willing to follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on European countries if they did not give ground on his plan for Greenland, and he did not rule out military action.

Asked by NBC in a telephone interview if he would use force to seize the island, he said: “No comment.”

He also insisted the Nobel Peace Prize was decided by the Norwegian government: “Norway totally controls it despite what they say,” he told NBC.

Historian Anne Applebaum described the US president’s message to the Norwegian leader as “unhinged”. Prominent Democrat US Pete Buttigieg, a former transport secretary, called it “take away the car keys level of crazy”.

In the hours after the message leaked, Trump said he had agreed to meet leaders at the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

But he showed no sign of relenting on his demands, posting on social media a mock photograph of himself planting a US flag on Greenland and a mock photo of himself with European leaders in the White House with a map of the US that included Greenland and Canada.

He also criticised the UK for giving up control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, calling it an act of “great stupidity”. The islands include Diego Garcia, which houses a strategic US/UK military base.

Revealing another text exchange, Trump also posted a message he received from French President Emmanuel Macron that sought a meeting to resolve the dispute with Europe.

“I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Macron said in the message posted by Trump.

Trump has threatened the UK and several other NATO allies with new tariffs of 10 per cent to start on February 1 if they do not accept his plan to take control of Greenland. He said the tariffs would rise to 25 per cent on June 1.

Macron is said to want European Union members to use their “trade bazooka” against Trump – a sanction on US companies that could, in theory, stymie exports worth €93 billion (about $162 billion).

Others, however, are calling for options to cool the argument without sacrificing Greenland, and potentially avoiding an escalating trade war.

“A tariff war is in nobody’s interests, and we have not got to that stage,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday. “And my focus, therefore, is making sure we don’t get to that stage.”

One of Starmer’s strongest opponents, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, also took issue with Trump despite being a political ally of the US president and a visitor to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Farage called the tariff threat “wrong, bad and very, very hurtful”.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has described Trump’s tariff threat as “blackmail” and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen rejected it again on Monday, while other national leaders have pushed back.

“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland,” said a joint statement on the weekend from the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Trump’s comments on Davos suggest a high-stakes meeting within days to negotiate on Greenland. Finnish President Alexander Stubb had been seeking the meeting at the World Economic Forum summit. Others at Davos include NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Macron. Trump will address the event on Thursday (Australian time).

Several of the EU leaders also plan to meet in Brussels on Thursday.

With wires

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.