President Donald Trump doubled down on his efforts to acquire Greenland late Monday while defending his angry letter to the Norwegian prime minister to reporters and again in a series of late-night Truth Social posts.
Trump was asked about the letter, sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre via text on Sunday, which linked his threats to take over Greenland with his Nobel Peace Prize snub.
In the letter, the 79-year-old wrote, “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.”
Trump wrote that while peace “will always be predominant,” his administration “can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
Trump was pressed on the issue in Miami before boarding Air Force One on Monday night. “If anybody thinks that Norway does not control the Nobel Prize they are just kidding,” he said. “They have a board, but it is controlled by Norway and I don’t care what Norway says.”
The Nobel Peace Prize is not awarded by the government. While the Norwegian Nobel Committee is appointed by Norway’s parliament, the prize itself is voted on by the committee’s members.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Støre said, “Regarding the Nobel Peace Prize, I have several times clearly explained to Trump what is well known, namely that it is an independent Nobel Committee, and not the Norwegian government, that awards the prize.”
On Monday night, Trump claimed that he does not care about the Nobel Prize before noting that “a very fine woman felt that I deserved it and wanted me to have the Nobel Prize and I appreciate that,” referring to Mariá Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize but gave her medal to Trump during her visit to the White House on Thursday.
In an interview with Fox News, Machado said that she handed her prize over to Trump because he “deserves” it.
“It was a very emotional moment. I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela,” she told Fox News’ Rachel Campos-Duffy.
The text accompanying the medal, which was presented to Trump in an ornate frame, read, “To President Donald J. Trump. In gratitude for your extraordinary leadership in promoting peace through strength, advancing diplomacy, and defending liberty and prosperity.”
The president also on Monday reiterated his interest in acquiring Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, by any means necessary. “I don’t think they’re going to push back too much. We have to have it. They have to have this done. They can’t protect it,” he said.
“Denmark, they don’t even go there. And because a boat went there 500 years ago and then left, that does not give you a title to property.”
The president had made similar arguments in his letter to Støre, adding that, “I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States.”
After the leaders of several European countries and key NATO allies opposed Trump’s attempts to annex Greenland, the president responded with threats to levy 10 percent tariffs starting next month that would increase to 25 percent in June if a deal has not been made by then.
The president continued his take on Greenland in a late-night Truth Social spree. The president revealed he had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the phone and agreed to a meeting of “various parties” in Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum is currently taking place.
He also posted a screenshot of a message ostensibly sent to him by Rutte that said, “I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work [in Syria], in Gaza, and in Ukraine,” and a text sent to him by French President Emmanuel Macron that said, “We are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.”
The president then shared an image depicting himself, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio planting a U.S. flag in Greenland, with a sign labelling it a ‘US TERRITORY, EST. 2026.’
In another post, he criticized the U.K.’s decision to transfer ownership of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness,” Trump wrote of the move. “These are International Powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before.”
“The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”
