Donald Trump plans to take over Greenland, citing being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize. Photo / Anna Moneymaker, AFP
Donald Trump has said his plan to take over Greenland was motivated by being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump told the Prime Minister of Norway in a letter that in retribution for not receiving the award, “I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace” and would consider “what is good and proper for the United States of America”.
He also blamed Denmark on Sunday for not being able to protect the island from Russia, and questioned the country’s ownership of Greenland.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he wants to buy the mineral-rich island, despite leaders of both Denmark and Greenland insisting it is not for sale and does not want to be part of the US.
Any US military move against Greenland would be unprecedented and could spell the end of the Nato military alliance.
In a separate post on Truth Social overnight, Trump said: “Nato has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland’. Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”
Trump argues he must take over Greenland because it is surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships. But there is no evidence for this based on marine shipping data, while Danish security experts, the Danish government and the Swedish government have said the claim is inaccurate.
The US President has threatened to impose tariffs on European countries which oppose his annexation plans, including Britain.
Sir Keir Starmer told Trump on Sunday that he should not punish Britain for opposing his attempt to take Greenland, and said putting tariffs on European countries for “pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is wrong”.
Speaking on Monday in an emergency address from Downing St, Starmer said Britain could suffer “huge damage” from the threatened tariffs, “whether that’s in a trade war or the weakening of alliances”.
The Prime Minister said the dispute over the territory should be resolved through “calm discussion between allies” rather than military action or a trade war.
The European Union, meanwhile, is considering a trade war with Trump after he was accused of “blackmail” over the tariffs threat. EU leaders will meet on Thursday evening for an emergency summit, a spokeswoman said on Monday.
A diplomatic source told The Telegraph on Sunday that the EU was readying €93b ($187b) in retaliatory tariffs against US exports to the bloc, after Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff on exports from Britain and the EU.
The US levies will come into force on February 1 and could increase to 25% on June 1 if no deal for Greenland is reached.
In emergency talks between EU envoys in Brussels on Sunday night, French President Emmanuel Macron urged member states to activate the bloc’s “trade bazooka” to restrict US firms’ access to the single market in response to the threats.
Trump’s latest outburst came as a Danish newspaper revealed that the United States attempted to gather sensitive information about military bases, air bases and ports in Greenland last year.
The information was gathered “informally” and without the involvement of Denmark, the centre-right newspaper Berlingske reported.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, despite the island being Nato territory.
The President is refusing to rule out military action and has belittled Danish efforts to appease his security concerns, such as last year’s £4.8b ($11b)defence package.
In his letter to Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian Prime Minister, obtained by the US broadcaster PBS, Trump suggested his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize had also influenced his desire to take over Greenland.
“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, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” he wrote.
Trump also questioned Denmark’s right of ownership over Greenland.
“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” he wrote. “There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also.”
He added: “I have done more for Nato than any other person since its founding, and now, Nato should do something for the United States. The world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland.”
The UK’s car industry, which is worth £10b and is the country’s biggest export to the US, was warned on Sunday night that it could see thousands of job losses if hit with higher tariffs. The sector had already sunk to its lowest level in 75 years in 2025.
Carmakers already face tariffs of 10% on exports to the US, which could now rise to 35%.
The Institute for Public Policy Research said 25,000 jobs could be at risk across the UK’s automotive sector if Trump did not back down.
Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, held emergency meetings over the weekend with car and steel manufacturers who may be worst affected by the tariffs. He is expected to continue the crisis talks on Monday.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has suggested Trump’s tariff threat is based on a misunderstanding about Danish-led joint exercises in Greenland last week, and that it would be “an error” to go ahead with the threat.
She said the exercises were not a move against the US but aimed to provide security against “other actors” – widely understood to be Russia and China.
The exercises in question, Arctic Endurance, had been arranged prior to the escalation over Greenland. But there had been speculation that Trump saw in those exercises, which included British, German and French troops, among others, a message of protest against a US takeover of the island.
Meloni’s comments were the first time she has criticised the US President so openly. It represents a rare rift in the relationship between Meloni and Trump, who has frequently praised her both politically and personally.
She is considered to be one of his staunchest allies in Europe and there have been hopes that she could act as a “Trump whisperer” – a bridge between Brussels and Washington.
But Meloni looked particularly grave and preoccupied when she made the comments on Sunday during a visit to South Korea, the Italian press reported. “No one has ever seen her look so worried,” said the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
KNQK, Greenland’s dogsled federation, said on Monday that the new US special envoy to the Arctic island had been disinvited to its annual race. Jeff Landry had been asked to attend the race by a private Greenlandic tour operator, an invitation the federation has called “totally inappropriate”.
A year ago, Usha Vance, the wife of US vice-president JD Vance, had planned to attend the dogsled race during a visit to Greenland. Her plans were cancelled amid strong opposition in Denmark. Instead, she and her husband joined a delegation to the US Pituffik military base in the northwest of the island.
Moscow has watched on gleefully as the schism between the US and Europe has widened over Greenland, with one pundit on Russian TV saying “this is tremendous” for the country.
The Kremlin said on Monday that the US President would go down in history if he succeeded in acquiring the Danish territory.
“There are international experts who believe that by resolving the issue of Greenland’s annexation, Trump will undoubtedly make history,” said Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman. “It’s hard to disagree with these experts.”
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.