Trump says Nobel snub frees him from obligation to “think only of peace”
German and French leaders denounce threats as ‘blackmail’
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said he no longer felt an “obligation to think purely of peace” after not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, and repeated his demand for control of Greenland.
Trump made the remarks in a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, which was published on Monday.
A copy of the text of the letter was posted by the foreign affairs and defence correspondent for PBS News, Nick Schifrin, on social media platform X, who said he had obtained it from multiple officials. Schifrin added that the letter had been forwarded to “multiple European ambassadors in Washington”.
“Dear Jonas: 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,” Trump said in the letter.
“Although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
As Bloomberg pointed out, the Nobel Peace Prize is not decided by the Norwegian government but rather awarded by an independent committee.
“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” the US president added.
“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 also called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) to “do something for the United States”, saying, “I have done more for Nato than any other person since its founding”.
“The world is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you!”
Trump has put the transatlantic alliance to the test with threats to take over Greenland “one way or the other”, with European countries closing ranks against Washington’s designs on the vast Danish territory.
German and French leaders denounced as “blackmail” weekend threats by Trump to wield new tariffs against countries which oppose his plans for the Arctic island, and said on Monday that Europe was preparing trade countermeasures.
The European Union said it was holding an emergency summit on Thursday to weigh its response, and that while its priority is to “engage, not escalate”, it is ready to act if needed.
“We will not be pressured,” Greenlandic prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post, adding that the autonomous territory “is a democratic society with the right to make its own decisions”.
Støre said the statement had been received in response to a message from him and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, where they had “conveyed our opposition” to Trump’s tariff threats.
Bloomberg quoted Støre as saying: “Regarding the Nobel Peace Prize, I have several times clearly explained to Trump what is well known, namely that it is an independent Nobel Committee, and not the Norwegian government, that awards the prize.” Monitoring Desk
