Trump ties Greenland push to Nobel snub, threatens tariffs on NATO allies

The confrontation marks a deepening rupture between Washington and its closest NATO allies over Trump’s Arctic territorial ambitions, with thousands of Greenlanders marching over the weekend in protest, Greenland’s prime minister vowing his territory will not be pressured, and European governments calling emergency summits while scrambling to open diplomatic channels.

President Donald Trump linked his push to seize Greenland to Norway’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in a text message that he no longer felt obligated to think only about peace, according to the message released Monday by the Norwegian government and confirmed as authentic by the White House. Trump also announced 10 percent tariffs beginning in February on products from eight European countries — including Norway and Denmark — after several of those nations deployed small troop contingents to Greenland.

The White House has not ruled out military force to take control of the Arctic island, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO member. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Monday that a military invasion “cannot be ruled out until the president himself decides to rule something out,” according to the Associated Press.

The escalating standoff marks a deepening rupture between Washington and its closest NATO partners over Trump’s territorial ambitions in the Arctic, with thousands of Greenlanders marching over the weekend in protest, Greenland’s prime minister vowing his territory will not be pressured, and European governments calling emergency summits while scrambling to open diplomatic channels.

Trump’s text invokes Nobel Prize

The text message to Støre, released Sunday by the Norwegian government, cited Norway’s Nobel Committee as a turning point in Trump’s stance. According to the AP, Trump wrote that because Norway had not awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped more than eight wars, he no longer felt the obligation to think only about peace, adding that the world would not be safe without complete and absolute U.S. control of Greenland.

Støre said the message was Trump’s reply to a joint message from Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb expressing opposition to the tariff announcement, urging de-escalation, and proposing a three-way phone call between the three leaders.

“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear,” Støre said in a statement. “Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark in this matter.”

Støre also pushed back on any suggestion that the Norwegian government controls the Nobel Committee’s decisions. The committee is a five-member independent body appointed by the Norwegian parliament. The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Last week, Machado gave her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it; the Nobel Committee said the prize cannot be revoked, transferred, or shared with others.

Speaking to reporters Monday evening before boarding Air Force One, Trump said he does not care about the Nobel prize but maintained he deserves one for stopping conflicts. “What matters to me is saving lives,” he said, according to the AP.

Invasion not ruled out; Greenlanders march

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said Trump “is certain that Greenlanders would be better off if they were protected by the United States from modern threats in the Arctic region,” according to the AP.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen posted Monday on Facebook that tariff threats would not change the territory’s position. “We will not be pressured,” he wrote.

Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister overseeing business, minerals, energy, justice, and equality, told the AP she was moved by the speed with which allied governments responded to the tariff threat. “I think many countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would follow?” she said.

Allies hold firm, seek dialogue

European governments expressed opposition while pushing to keep diplomatic channels open. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he believed the dispute “can be resolved and should be resolved through quiet conversation” and that he does not believe military action will take place.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a social media statement that the bloc has “no interest in starting a fight” but “will maintain our position.” EU Council President António Costa announced an emergency summit of European leaders for Thursday evening. Six of the eight countries targeted by the tariffs are EU members, which as a single customs union coordinates responses to trade measures as a bloc.

European troop deployments were modest

Trump framed his tariffs partly as retaliation for European troop deployments to Greenland, which he characterized as a provocation. However, a senior European military official, speaking anonymously to the AP, said the total deployments across all countries combined involved no more than a few dozen personnel — far smaller than the framing implied. European governments said the troop movements were intended to address Trump’s stated concerns about Arctic security, not to challenge American interests.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met Monday with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland to discuss Arctic security. Trump posted Tuesday that he and Rutte had agreed to a multilateral meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week. French President Emmanuel Macron separately proposed, in a text message Trump shared publicly, a Group of Seven meeting in Paris after Davos.

Trump also posted digitally altered images, including one showing him planting an American flag in Greenland beside a sign reading “Greenland, Territory of USA, Est. 2026,” and another showing Greenland and Canada covered by the American flag on an Oval Office map.