Trump says he wants Greenland because he was rejected for a Nobel Peace Prize last year

Trump’s letter to Jonas Gahr Sture appears to intensify the confrontation between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to seize Greenland, an autonomous region in Denmark, a NATO member. Trump on Saturday announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight countries clustered around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.

These countries issued a strong rebuke. But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to calm tensions on Monday. While the White House did not rule out taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force, Starmer said he did not believe there would be military action.

“I believe this can and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said.

However, the US leader’s letter to Gar Stohr could further fracture US-European relations already strained by disagreements over how to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, and previous rounds of tariffs, military spending, and immigration policy.

In a sign of how tensions have risen in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend to protest any effort to take control of their island. Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens Fredrik Nielsen said in a Facebook post on Monday that the tariff threats would not change their position.

“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Naga Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press she was impressed by the allies’ quick response to the tariff threat, which she said showed countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”

“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what will happen next?”

Trump sends a message to the Norwegian leader

According to European officials, Trump’s message to Jar Store read in part: “Given that your country has decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize because it has stopped 8 wars in addition, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely about peace, even though it will always prevail, but I can now think about what is good and right for the United States of America.”

She concluded, “The world will not be safe unless we fully and comprehensively control Greenland.”

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the letter was forwarded to several European ambassadors in Washington. The contents of Trump’s memo were first reported by PBS.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a short question-and-answer session with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.

“I think it’s a complete lie that the president would do this because of the Nobel Prize,” Besant said immediately after saying he “didn’t know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”

Besant insisted that Trump “views Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States,” adding, “We will not entrust our security in the Western Hemisphere to anyone else.”

The White House did not respond to questions about the letter or the context of Trump sending it.

Storr’s neighbor confirmed on Monday that he had received a text message the previous day from Trump but had not released its contents.

The Norwegian leader said that Trump’s message was a response to a previous letter sent on his behalf and on behalf of Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they expressed their opposition to the tariff announcement, cited the need for calm, and suggested a telephone conversation between the three leaders.

“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark in this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. He added: “With regard to the Nobel Peace Prize, I have made clear clearly, including to President Trump, what is known, that the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian government.”

He told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 that he had not responded to the letter, but “I still think it is wise to speak up,” and he hopes to speak with Trump in Davos this week.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian parliament.

Trump had publicly wanted to receive the Peace Prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it even though the committee said the award could not be revoked, transferred or shared with others.

Starmer says a trade war is in no one’s interest

In his latest threat to impose tariffs, Trump suggested they would be a response to last week’s deployment of token numbers of troops from European countries to Greenland — although he also suggested he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

European governments said troops traveled to the island to assess security in the Arctic, as part of a response to Trump’s concerns about interference by Russia and China.

Starmer on Monday called Trump’s threat of tariffs “completely false” and said a trade war was in no one’s interest.

He added, “Realism does not mean passivity, and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”

Six of the eight targeted countries are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic area in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said on Sunday that the bloc’s leaders had expressed their “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” A summit was announced on Thursday evening.

Starmer noted that Britain, which is not part of the European Union, does not plan to consider imposing retaliatory tariffs.

“My focus is on making sure we don’t get to that point,” he said.

The Danish Defense Minister and Greenland’s Foreign Minister are expected to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that was planned before the latest escalation.

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Associated Press writers Josh Bock in West Palm Beach, Florida; Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland; Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.