Norwegian leader says he received Trump message that reportedly ties Greenland to Nobel Peace Prize

BERLIN | Norway’s prime minister said Monday that he received a message from U.S. President Donald Trump about rising tensions over Greenland in which the American leader reportedly said he no longer felt obligated to think purely of peace since he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump’s message to Jonas Gahr Støre, first reported by PBS, appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. To force European countries that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland toward talks, Trump on Saturday announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations, including Norway.

Those countries issued a forceful rebuke. But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. While the White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force, Starmer said he did not believe military action would occur.

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

Still, the American leader’s message to Gahr Støre could further fracture a U.S.-European relationship already strained by differences over how to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, previous rounds of tariffs, military spending and migration policy.

In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change the their stance.

“We will not be pressured,” he wrote. “We stand firm on dialogue, on respect, and on international law.”

Trump sends a message to the Norwegian leader

In a post on social media, PBS reported that Trump said in a message to Gahr Støre: “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, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”

It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

PBS said the message had been forwarded to multiple European ambassadors in Washington.

Gahr Støre confirmed Monday that he had received a text message from Trump but did not release its contents. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Gahr Støre said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.

“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” Støre said. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to president Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”

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

Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.

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

In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

European governments said that the troops traveled to the island for Arctic security training in response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.

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

He added that “being pragmatic does not mean being passive and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”

Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He is expected to convene a summit later this week.

Starmer indicated that Britain, which is not part of the EU, is not planning to consider retaliatory tariffs.

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

Denmark’s 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.

Europe warns of ‘dangerous downward spiral’ after Trump threatens tariffs over Greenland

The eight European countries targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland blasted the move Sunday, warning that his threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

The joint statement by some of America’s closest allies signaled a possible turning point in the recent tensions over sovereignty and security nearly 24 hours after Trump’s threat.

It was also the most forceful rebuke of Trump from the European allies since he returned to the White House almost a year ago. In recent months, Europeans have mostly opted for diplomacy and flattery around him, even when seeking an end to the war in Ukraine. Sunday’s statement, as well as some European countries sending troops to Greenland for a Danish military training exercise, appeared to be a step away from that strategy.

The unusually strong joint statement from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland said troops sent to Greenland for operation “Arctic Endurance” pose “no threat to anyone.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters in Oslo that a dialogue was opened with the U.S. last week and “we will not give up on that. … So we will stay on track — unless U.S. decides differently.”

Added Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide at the same news conference: “We will not allow ourselves to be put under pressure, and those types of threats (of U.S. tariffs) are unacceptable between close allies,”

Six of the countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade.

Following emergency talks among the EU’s national envoys Sunday, EU Council President Antonio Costa said the bloc’s leaders agree “that tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the EU-U.S. trade agreement.”

They expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion,” Costa said in a statement. He is expected to convene a summit of the bloc’s leaders later this week.

Solidarity with Denmark and Greenland

Trump’s Saturday announcement sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. He appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security.

Late Sunday, Trump posted on his social media platform that NATO has warned Denmark for two decades of the Russian threat to Greenland. He said Denmark hasn’t acted and “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”

“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland,” the group said. “Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

There are immediate questions about how the White House could implement tariffs against the EU. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO..”

Europe has been trying to keep Trump on its side to ensure U.S. support for Ukraine, including Washington sharing intelligence with Kyiv and its involvement in security guarantees if a peace agreement is reached with Russia.

Rasmus Søndergaard, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, called Trump’s announcement “unprecedented” because tariff threats normally stem from trade disagreements, not territorial disputes between allies.

“That’s of course why we’re seeing the response from European countries saying ‘enough is enough,'” he told The Associated Press. “I think there’s in part probably a strategic calculation, of course, from the governments in these countries that if you give in to Trump on this, what will be the next thing? And at some point you have to sort of push back.”

Søndergaard also said Trump leveled the playing field for Europe with the tariff threat. Europeans cannot compete militarily, but the EU can wield an economic weapon through reciprocal tariffs.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte wrote on social media Sunday that he’d spoken with Trump. Rutte has been criticized in recent days for largely sidestepping questions about Trump and Greenland and any NATO tensions over the island.

“We will continue working on this, and I look forward to seeing him in Davos later this week,” Rutte said.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also spoke to Trump and told him that “applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is wrong,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said. That call followed conversations with Rutte, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Trump’s move was also panned domestically.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, said Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”

“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” Kelly said on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said he supports the United States ultimately owning Greenland, but not how Trump is trying to accomplish it.

He said he had concerns whether Trump had the constitutional authority to impose unilateral tariffs on NATO allies, as well as about a threat of a military invasion. Trump’s current position threatens “to fracture that strong relationship, not just with Denmark, but with all of our NATO allies,” Pence said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Trump’s populist allies criticize the tariff threat

The tariff announcement also drew blowback from Trump’s populist allies in Europe.

Italy’s right-wing premier, Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”

The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni said, adding it was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t identify.

Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”

Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.

Also in London on Sunday, a heckler yelled “leave Greenland alone!” while Vanessa Williams sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before an NBA game between Memphis and Orlando. The outburst drew scattered laughs and applause.

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Lawless reported from London and Burrows reported from Nuuk, Greenland. John Leicester in Paris, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Aamer Madhani in Washington, Edith M. Lederer in New York, and Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed.