Trump says Nobel Prize denial ends obligation to ‘think purely of peace’, presses Greenland demand

In his latest threat, US President Donald Trump has said that the denial of the Nobel Peace Prize has ended his obligation to pursue peace, according to PBS News.

Trump invoked the denial of the Nobel Peace Prize to justify his demand for the American occupation of Denmark’s Greenland island.

Trump made these assertions in a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that the National Security Council (NSC) also forwarded to European ambassadors posted in Washington DC, as per PBS’ Nick Schifrin.

“Dear Jonas: Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus (sic), 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,” said Trump.

Trump then pivoted to his demand for control of Greenland. He went on to reject Denmark’s sovereignty over the island.

“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,” said Trump.

Asking Nato to deliver Greenland to him, Trump said that “the world is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland”.

The development has come at a time when Trump and his allies have ramped up their campaign to occupy Greenland — forcefully if needed . Last week, he imposed a 10 per cent tariff on Denmark and seven other European countries that have opposed the campaign to occupy Greenland. He said the tariff would increase to 25 per cent if Greenland’s control were not handed over to the United States by June.

Trump’s repeated threats to invade and occupy Greenland —an island belonging to fellow Nato member Denmark— and his announcement of punitive tariffs on allies have pushed the alliance to the edge. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said that the alliance would be dead if the United States were to make a military move on the island.

Last week, Denmark was joined by fellow Nato members Germany, Sweden, France, and Norway in sending military personnel to Greenland to bolster the island’s defences. In the wake of Trump’s threats, President Emmanuel Macron said that France would deploy “land, air, and sea assets” to Greenland to strengthen the island’s defences. Without naming Trump, he also criticised “a new colonialism that is at work among some” actors in the world.

Following Trump’s escalation of the campaign to occupy Greenland through a tariff war, the European Union (EU) has discussed whether it should invoke the ’trade bazooka' , referring to a never-before-used provision called the anti-coercion instrument (ACI), which the EU adopted in 2023. It allows the EU to punish unfriendly countries for economic blackmail by limiting trade licences and shutting off their access to the bloc’s single market.