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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.
President Donald Trump with Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre last October.Credit: AP
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 last October, 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 letter was copied to European ambassadors in Washington DC 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.
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Gahr Støre confirmed on Monday that he had received a text message from Trump but did not release its contents, the Associated Press reported, adding that the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
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.
French President Emmanuel 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 against the US President.
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“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.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he would seek a meeting with Trump at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, which begins on Monday. 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 from France. Trump will address the event on Tuesday.
Several of the EU leaders also plan to meet in Brussels on Thursday.
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