US President Donald Trump has said he no longer feels bound to think only about peace after not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, as he again pressed his demand for US control over Greenland.
In a message sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Trump blamed Norway for not awarding him the prestigious prize and said the decision had changed his outlook.
“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, but can now think about what is good and proper for the US,” Trump said in the message obtained by US media.
He added that “the world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland”.
CBS News, confirmed the authenticity of the message.
Prime Minister Støre said he received the text on Sunday in response to a message he and Finnish President Alexander Stubb had sent to Trump. He said they had opposed proposed US tariff increases linked to the Greenland dispute and urged de-escalation, proposing a three-way phone call the same day.
Nato members warn Trump’s Greenland tariff threat could trigger ‘dangerous downward spiral’
Støre also pointed out that the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by an independent committee, not by the Norwegian government.
Trump has repeatedly said the United States needs to take over Greenland for national security reasons. The sparsely populated but resource-rich Arctic island is seen as strategically important for early warning systems against missile attacks and for monitoring shipping routes in the region.
He has again insisted that the US should buy Greenland and has not ruled out the use of military force against a Nato ally to take control of the territory.
Over the weekend, Trump said he would impose a 10 percent tariff on goods from eight Nato allies from February if they oppose his proposed takeover of Greenland, and warned the tariff could rise to 25 percent by June.
In his message to Støre, Trump said Denmark could not protect Greenland from Russia or China and questioned Denmark’s claim of ownership.
“I have done more for Nato than any other person since its founding, and now Nato should do something for the United States,” he said.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday that any decision on Greenland’s future “belongs to the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone” and described the use of tariffs against allies as wrong.
Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and Greenlandic Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Motzfeldt were due to meet Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday. Last week, Denmark and Greenland, along with Nato allies, agreed to increase military presence and exercises in the Arctic and the North Atlantic, with several European countries sending small numbers of troops to Greenland on a reconnaissance mission.
EU to convene emergency summit Thursday over Trump’s Greenland threats
Trump has claimed he ended eight wars since beginning his second term last year. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
After US forces later seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and removed him from Caracas on drug trafficking charges and other crimes, Trump did not back Machado as the country’s next leader and instead supported Maduro’s vice-president as interim head of government.
Machado, who has praised Trump, met him at the White House last week and handed her medal to him. The Nobel Foundation said the award cannot be passed on, even symbolically.
#With inputs from BBC