The TOI correspondent from Washington: Tensions between the United States and its European allies are escalating this week after US President Donald Trump sent an extraordinary message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, linking his renewed push to acquire Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In the message, sent over the weekend and confirmed by Oslo, the MAGA supremo argued that the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision not to award him the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize had altered his approach to diplomacy.
“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,” Trump wrote, in what was widely seen as an astonishing show of petulance. He added that while peace would remain “predominant,” he would now prioritize “what is good and proper for the United States.”Trump went on to restate his long-held view that Greenland—an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark—is a strategic “security necessity” for the US, asserting that Denmark lacks the capacity to protect the island from growing Russian or Chinese influence in the Arctic. He also questioned Denmark’s historical claim to the territory, suggesting that earlier American exploration gave the US a competing interest. “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 wrote, opening a historical can of worms since America itself was settled by Europeans landing there on boats. Going further back, the American continent was populated by Asians from Russia coming through the Bering Straits, and eventually becoming Native Americans.Following Trump’s first settler argument, the US President and his MAGA acolytes were trolled by French gadabouts who reminded them that without French intervention at Yorktown in the American war for Independence, there would have been no United States as currently constituted. “The world is not secure unless historical debts are properly recognized. Therefore, it is both good and proper to consider the orderly transfer of the United States under French stewardship, in the interest of competence, culture, and cuisine,” wrote one snarky critic.Norwegian PM Store responded to Trump’s grievance by reiterating that the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by an independent committee appointed by Norway’s parliament, not by the government. “I have several times clearly explained this to President Trump,” Store said, seeking to distance Oslo from the Nobel decision that has become something of a desperate fixation with the US President to the extent that he accepted it second hand from the 2025 winner, Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Machado.Trump’s message, which was leaked in Washington by European embassies which reportedly received it from the NSC, marked a significant escalation in a dispute that has already seen the US. threaten a 10% tariff on imports from eight European countries—including Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Norway—that would take effect on February 1, rising to 25% by June unless negotiations over Greenland move forward.The controversy has reverberated across Europe. European Union officials have called an emergency summit to discuss possible retaliatory trade measures, with some diplomats warning of a “dangerous downward spiral” that could damage the Nato alliance. Some EU members are pressing for activation of its “anti-coercion instrument,” dubbed as “trade bazooka,” which could impose countermeasures like export controls or market restrictions on the US. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated Europe “will not be blackmailed,” echoing sentiments from French President Emmanuel Macron, who is pushing for unified retaliation. Analysts in the US alarmed that Trump’s messaging risks sinking Nato and ties with Europe. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, described it as “an unprecedented mix of personal grievance and power politics,” warning that linking national security objectives to international awards risks undermining US credibility. Anne-Marie Slaughter, former director of policy planning at the US State Department, called it “bonkers” on social media, suggesting it exemplifies behavior that “the 25th Amendment is for,” referring to the constitutional provision for removing an unfit president.Even Republican lawmakers are gobsmacked by Trump’s Nobel tantrum, accusing some of his advisors for triggering his Greenland grab. “The fact that a small handful of ‘advisors’ are actively pushing for coercive action to seize the territory of an ally is beyond stupid. It hurts the legacy of President Trump and undercuts all the work he has done to strengthen the Nato alliance over the years,” North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, currently in Denmark with a Congressional delegation, said. The 11-member delegation, led by Democrat Chris Coons, is attempting to reassure Danish and Greenlandic politicians of US support even as the executive is running amok. “Greenland is a part of Denmark. Denmark is our Nato ally. That should be the end of this discussion,” Coons said over the weekend, acknowledging that while “our very positive relationships have dimmed a bit… I hope that the people of Denmark do not abandon their faith in the American people.” Go to Source
