Donald Trump sent an extraordinary letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, saying peace no longer purely interests him, as he was snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The National Security Council then shared the letter with multiple European ambassadors in Washington over the weekend, according to PBS journalist Nick Schifrin.
Highlights
- Donald Trump sent a letter to Norwegian PM Støre, appearing to link his failed Nobel Peace Prize bid to a revived desire to acquire Greenland.
- Trump claimed to have ended eight wars and demanded NATO support for the US to gain total control of Greenland.
- Norway confirmed receipt of Trump's letter, shared with European diplomats, amid his threatened tariffs on several countries.
In the message, Trump appeared to link his renewed desire to take over Greenland to the prestigious prize he failed to win, which is awarded by an independent committee and not the Norwegian government.
Donald Trump sent a bizarre missive to Jonas Gahr Støre
Image credits: Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
“Dear Jonas: 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,” Trump said in the missive.
His claim to have ended eight wars has been widely disputed.
“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 continued, “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. Thank you! President DJT.”
While the legitimacy of the letter was questioned due to its bizarreness, Støre confirmed he had received the correspondence from Trump in a statement on Monday.
He said that the message came in response to a short text he had sent to Trump on behalf of himself and Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb.
That message expressed opposition to a threat Trump issued over the weekend, with the American president announcing a 10% tariff on countries that are against his takeover of Greenland.
Trump said Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland will be hit with the tariff on any and all goods sent to the U.S. from February 1, with the tariff increasing to 25% in June.
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“This Tariff will be due and payable until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” Trump said.
Støre said his message proposed a three-way telephone call between Trump, himself, and Stubb to try to de-escalate the situation.
“I can confirm that this is a text message that I received yesterday afternoon from President Trump,” Støre said.
“The response from Trump came shortly after the message was sent. It was his decision to share his message with other NATO leaders.”
He reiterated Norway’s position on Greenland, saying, “Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter.”
Trump was gifted Machado's peace prize after being snubbed for the prestigious honor
Trump spent much of last year campaigning for the prestigious honor, only to see it awarded instead to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
Machado, however, gave Trump her prize after meeting the President at the White House on Friday. She had previously dedicated the award to Trump.
It comes after the U.S. backed Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela’s acting president after Nicolás Maduro’s capture and extradition to New York.
Image credits: The White House
Trump argued that Machado lacked the authority and backing required to lead the nation.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prize, said Machado’s gesture was symbolic and that the award cannot be transferred to another person, with the original laureate the only one to be recorded in history as receiving the prize.
“The medal and the diploma are the physical symbols confirming that an individual or organisation has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,” it said in a statement.
“The prize itself—the honour and recognition—remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation designated as the laureate by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.”
“The Committee does not comment on laureates’ subsequent statements, decisions, or actions. Any ongoing assessments or choices made by laureates must be understood as their own responsibility,” it said.
“There are no restrictions in the statutes of the Nobel Foundation on what a laureate may do with the medal, the diploma, or the prize money. This means that a laureate is free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items.”