Morning opening: ‘I no longer feel obligation to think purely of peace’<\/h2>\n\n![\"Jakub](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/uploads\/2025\/01\/22\/Jakub_Krupa.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=4a039a2b765744058f3c2c677268513e\")
<\/div>\nJakub Krupa<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\nUS president Donald Trump<\/a> and senior members of his administration have repeatedly reiterated their determination to take control of Greenland overnight,<\/strong> just hours after the European leaders started frantically coordinating their response to the US move to impose tariffs on most vocal opponents of the plan.<\/p>\nOvernight, Trump said in a social media post:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cNato has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that \u201cyou have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.\u201d Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!<\/strong> President Donald J. Trump\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nUS treasury secretary Scott Bessent also pursued a similar line, telling NBC broadcaster that \u201cEuropeans project weakness, US projects strength.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cThe president believes enhanced security is not possible without Greenland<\/a> being part of the US<\/strong>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIn further escalation, he also appeared to link the future of Greenland with the continuation of the US support for Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\nHe said:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe European leaders will come around. And they will understand that they need to be under the US security umbrella. What would happen in Ukraine if the US pulled its support out? The whole thing would collapse.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe issue of Greenland\u2019s future will continue to dominate the news agenda today<\/strong>, as the Europeans coordinate their next steps ahead of this week\u2019s extraordinary EU summit, expected on Thursday. UK prime minister Keir Starmer is also expected to wade in,<\/strong> with a special emergency press conference convened for this morning.<\/p>\nLater today, the Danish and Greenlandic ministers will also meet with Nato\u2019s secretary general Mark Rutte,<\/strong> who has been one of Trump\u2019s closest European partners.<\/p>\nBut even being the extremely diplomatic (or sycophantic, if you ask his critics) and glass-half-full kind of person, the Dutchman couldn\u2019t strike a particularly positive tone after his Sunday night call with Trump,<\/strong> saying in a terse readout that he \u201cspoke with @POTUS regarding the security situation in Greenland and the Arctic. We will continue working on this, and I look forward to seeing him in Davos later this week.\u201d<\/p>\nAnd yet\u2026<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most explosive revelation this morning comes from another direction,<\/strong> first reported by PBS journalist Nick Schifrin<\/a>, and later widely reported in Europe.<\/p>\nOver the weekend, Trump sent a letter to Norway\u2019s prime minister Jonas Gahr St\u00f8re telling him that<\/strong> \u201cconsidering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize<\/strong> for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n(Norway doesn\u2019t decide the Nobel Peace Prize, mind you. It\u2019s an independent committee based in Oslo, not controlled by the Norwegian state.)<\/p>\n
He added, magnanimously, \u201calthough [thinking about peace] will always be predominant, but [I] can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/div>\nJakub Krupa<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n US president Donald Trump<\/a> and senior members of his administration have repeatedly reiterated their determination to take control of Greenland overnight,<\/strong> just hours after the European leaders started frantically coordinating their response to the US move to impose tariffs on most vocal opponents of the plan.<\/p>\n Overnight, Trump said in a social media post:<\/p>\n \u201cNato has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that \u201cyou have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.\u201d Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!<\/strong> President Donald J. Trump\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n US treasury secretary Scott Bessent also pursued a similar line, telling NBC broadcaster that \u201cEuropeans project weakness, US projects strength.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe president believes enhanced security is not possible without Greenland<\/a> being part of the US<\/strong>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In further escalation, he also appeared to link the future of Greenland with the continuation of the US support for Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe European leaders will come around. And they will understand that they need to be under the US security umbrella. What would happen in Ukraine if the US pulled its support out? The whole thing would collapse.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The issue of Greenland\u2019s future will continue to dominate the news agenda today<\/strong>, as the Europeans coordinate their next steps ahead of this week\u2019s extraordinary EU summit, expected on Thursday. UK prime minister Keir Starmer is also expected to wade in,<\/strong> with a special emergency press conference convened for this morning.<\/p>\n Later today, the Danish and Greenlandic ministers will also meet with Nato\u2019s secretary general Mark Rutte,<\/strong> who has been one of Trump\u2019s closest European partners.<\/p>\n But even being the extremely diplomatic (or sycophantic, if you ask his critics) and glass-half-full kind of person, the Dutchman couldn\u2019t strike a particularly positive tone after his Sunday night call with Trump,<\/strong> saying in a terse readout that he \u201cspoke with @POTUS regarding the security situation in Greenland and the Arctic. We will continue working on this, and I look forward to seeing him in Davos later this week.\u201d<\/p>\n And yet\u2026<\/p>\n Perhaps the most explosive revelation this morning comes from another direction,<\/strong> first reported by PBS journalist Nick Schifrin<\/a>, and later widely reported in Europe.<\/p>\n Over the weekend, Trump sent a letter to Norway\u2019s prime minister Jonas Gahr St\u00f8re telling him that<\/strong> \u201cconsidering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize<\/strong> for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n (Norway doesn\u2019t decide the Nobel Peace Prize, mind you. It\u2019s an independent committee based in Oslo, not controlled by the Norwegian state.)<\/p>\n He added, magnanimously, \u201calthough [thinking about peace] will always be predominant, but [I] can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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