Trump Ties Greenland Stance, Nobel     01/20 06:08

   U.S. President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to 
last year's decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway's 
prime minister that he no longer felt "an obligation to think purely of Peace," 
in a text message released Monday.

   NUUK, Greenland (AP) -- U.S. President Donald Trump linked his aggressive 
stance on Greenland to last year's decision not to award him the Nobel Peace 
Prize, telling Norway's prime minister that he no longer felt "an obligation to 
think purely of Peace," in a text message released Monday.

   Trump's message to Jonas Gahr Store 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. On Saturday, Trump announced a 
10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have 
rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.

   Those countries issued a forceful rebuke.

   Many longtime allies of the U.S. remained resolute that Greenland was not 
for sale but encouraged Washington to discuss solutions. In a statement on 
social media, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the 
bloc had "no interest to pick a fight" but would "hold our ground."

   The White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island 
by force. Asked whether Trump could invade Greenland, Danish Foreign Minister 
Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Monday that "you can't leave anything out until the 
president himself has decided to leave anything out."

   British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also sought to de-escalate tensions 
Monday. "I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm 
discussion," he said, adding that he did not believe military action would 
occur.

   Early Tuesday, Trump posted on social media that he had spoken with NATO 
Secretary General Mark Rutte and "I agreed to a meeting of the various parties 
in Davos, Switzerland," where they will be attending the World Economic Forum's 
annual meeting this week.

   Trump also posted a text message from Emmanuel Macron in which the French 
president suggested a meeting of members of the Group of Seven industrialized 
democracies in Paris after the Davos gathering.

   Later, however, Trump posted some provocatively doctored images. One showed 
him planting the U.S. flag next to a sign reading "Greenland, U.S. Territory, 
Est. 2026." The other showed Trump in the Oval Office next to a map that showed 
Greenland and Canada covered with the U.S. Stars and Stripes.

   Strong opposition in Greenland to U.S. threats

   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 their stance.

   "We will not be pressured," he wrote.

   Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's minister for business, minerals, 
energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by 
the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that 
countries realize "this is about more than Greenland."

   "I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what 
would be next?"

   Trump cites Nobel as escalation in text to Norwegian leader

   Trump's Sunday message to Gahr Store, released by the Norwegian government, 
read in part, "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."

   It concluded, "The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total 
Control of Greenland."

   The White House confirmed the authenticity of the message, with White House 
deputy press secretary Anna Kelly saying that Trump "is confident Greenlanders 
would be better served if protected by the United States from modern threats in 
the Arctic region."

   The Norwegian leader 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," 
the Norwegian leader said in a statement. "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 Mara 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.

   Speaking Monday night to reporters before boarding Air Force One on his way 
back from Florida to Washington, Trump said he didn't "care about the Nobel 
prize."

   "A very fine woman felt that I deserved it and really wanted me to have the 
Nobel prize. And I appreciate that. If anybody thinks that Norway doesn't 
control the Nobel prize, they're just kidding. ... And I don't care what Norway 
says. But I really don't care about that. What I care about is saving lives," 
he said.

   Trump says he will use tariffs as a bargaining chip

   In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated the import taxes 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 to assess 
Arctic security, part of a response to Trump's own concerns about interference 
from Russia and China.

   The move by some European countries to deploy troops may have given the 
impression that an armada of ships was sailing to Greenland, when the reality 
was that European nations said they would send not more than a few dozen troops 
collectively, a senior European military official told The Associated Press 
speaking on condition of anonymity in order to talk publicly.

   Trump threatened eight European countries with tariffs Sunday after they 
announced small numbers of troop deployments to the Arctic island -- including 
Denmark, which Greenland is part of.

   The European move was aimed at taking action on Trump's concerns, the senior 
official told the AP.

   In a statement on social media, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he 
had discussed how important the region was for the "collective security" of the 
security alliance in a Monday meeting with the foreign ministers of Denmark and 
Greenland.

   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 Antnio Costa said Sunday that the bloc's leaders expressed 
"readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion." He announced a 
summit for Thursday evening.