Trump abandons ‘peace’ focus after Nobel snub in message to Norway PM: ‘World is not secure’
Trump says ‘World is not secure’ without US control of Greenland, as US president rejects peace-focused diplomacy in a blunt message to Norwegian PM
Donald Trump no longer needs to think “purely of peace” after being snubbed for a Nobel prize, the US president said in comments published on Monday, adding the world will not be safe until Washington controls Greenland.
Trump has put the transatlantic alliance to the test with threats to take over Greenland “one way or the other”, with European countries closing ranks against Washington’s designs on the vast Danish territory.
German and French leaders denounced as “blackmail” weekend threats by Trump to wield new tariffs against countries which oppose his plans for the Arctic island, and said on Monday that Europe was preparing trade countermeasures.
The European Union said it was holding an emergency summit on Thursday to weigh its response, and that while its priority is to “engage not escalate”, it is ready to act if needed.
Greenland, for its part, said the tariffs threat does not change its desire to assert its own sovereignty.
“We will not be pressured,” Greenlandic prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a social media post, adding that the autonomous territory “is a democratic society with the right to make its own decisions”.