Trump Links Greenland Threats to Missing Out on Nobel Prize
From the Wall Street Journal
Jan-19-2026
President Trump added a new dimension into his increasingly aggressive pursuit of Greenland, telling Norway that he no longer needed to think “purely of peace” after being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.
European leaders were already scrambling to talk him out of a damaging trans-Atlantic trade war over the island, in which he launched an opening salvo over the weekend.
So far, the European Union and the U.K. have held off openly wielding retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s threat to hit them with 10% tariffs for their opposition to a U.S. takeover of Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory.
European leaders are looking to take the heat out of the rapidly escalating issue, in hope that Trump won’t follow through with his pledge.
But the president threw another curveball into the debate on Sunday, linking his pursuit of the world’s largest island to missing out on the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded by a committee based in Norway.
According to the Norwegian prime minister, Trump said in a text message that the world wouldn’t be secure unless the U.S. has “Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
“Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS,” Trump wrote in the message, according to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, “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 has given a number of reasons why he wants the mineral-rich, strategically located island to become part of the U.S., but this is the first time he is known to have attributed his pursuit to missing out on a Nobel.
The president has long made clear his ambition to win the coveted award, which the Nobel committee gave to former President Barack Obama in his first term. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the most recent Nobel Peace laureate, presented Trump with her medal last week when the pair met at the White House.
On Monday, Støre said he had responded to the message from Trump. “We pointed to the need to de-escalate,” he said in a statement, adding that he had told Trump repeatedly that the Norwegian government has no say in who gets the peace prize.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jan-19-2026
President Trump added a new dimension into his increasingly aggressive pursuit of Greenland, telling Norway that he no longer needed to think “purely of peace” after being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.
European leaders were already scrambling to talk him out of a damaging trans-Atlantic trade war over the island, in which he launched an opening salvo over the weekend.
So far, the European Union and the U.K. have held off openly wielding retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s threat to hit them with 10% tariffs for their opposition to a U.S. takeover of Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory.
European leaders are looking to take the heat out of the rapidly escalating issue, in hope that Trump won’t follow through with his pledge.
But the president threw another curveball into the debate on Sunday, linking his pursuit of the world’s largest island to missing out on the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded by a committee based in Norway.
According to the Norwegian prime minister, Trump said in a text message that the world wouldn’t be secure unless the U.S. has “Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
“Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS,” Trump wrote in the message, according to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, “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 has given a number of reasons why he wants the mineral-rich, strategically located island to become part of the U.S., but this is the first time he is known to have attributed his pursuit to missing out on a Nobel.
The president has long made clear his ambition to win the coveted award, which the Nobel committee gave to former President Barack Obama in his first term. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the most recent Nobel Peace laureate, presented Trump with her medal last week when the pair met at the White House.
On Monday, Støre said he had responded to the message from Trump. “We pointed to the need to de-escalate,” he said in a statement, adding that he had told Trump repeatedly that the Norwegian government has no say in who gets the peace prize.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
