No obligation to think of peace: Trump’s letter links Greenland push to Nobel snub

United States President Donald Trump has admitted in a striking message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store that his push to seize Greenland is linked to frustration over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, according to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

In the letter, Trump suggested that being denied the award had changed how he approached global affairs. “Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace. Although it will always be predominant, I can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote.

He used the Nobel snub to justify a hard turn toward American occupation of Greenland, rejecting Denmark’s claim over the autonomous territory. Trump also questioned Copenhagen’s sovereignty, arguing that Denmark could not defend the island from Russia or China.

“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,” Trump said.

Notably, the Nobel Peace Prize is not decided by Norway’s government but is awarded by an independent committee.

Prime Minister Store confirmed to Norwegian daily Aftenposten that he did receive Trump’s message. He said the text came in response to an earlier note sent by him and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb opposing Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on Norway, Finland and other countries.

“I can confirm that this is a message I received yesterday afternoon from President Trump. It came as a response to a short message to President Trump from me earlier in the day, on behalf of myself and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb,” Store wrote in an SMS to the newspaper.

Trump has repeatedly stated that he will accept nothing short of ownership of Greenland, an autonomous region under Danish control. Earlier, he accused Denmark of failing to address what he called the “Russian threat” near the Arctic territory.

“NATO has been telling Denmark for 20 years that you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland. Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social.

Both Denmark and Greenland’s leadership have rejected Trump’s stance, insisting the island is not for sale and does not want to become part of the United States.

Trump has also threatened economic pressure.

On Saturday, he vowed to impose escalating tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland. He has argued that the growing presence of China and Russia makes the Arctic island strategically vital for American security, even as Danish and European officials note that Greenland already falls under NATO’s collective defence framework.

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