Morning opening: ‘I no longer feel obligation to think purely of peace’
Jakub Krupa
US president Donald Trump and senior members of his administration have repeatedly reiterated their determination to take control of Greenland overnight, 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.
Overnight, Trump said in a social media post:
“Nato has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that “you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.” Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!! President Donald J. Trump”
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent also pursued a similar line, telling NBC broadcaster that “Europeans project weakness, US projects strength.”
“The president believes enhanced security is not possible without Greenland being part of the US,” he said.
In further escalation, he also appeared to link the future of Greenland with the continuation of the US support for Ukraine.
He said:
“The 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.”
The issue of Greenland’s future will continue to dominate the news agenda today, as the Europeans coordinate their next steps ahead of this week’s extraordinary EU summit, expected on Thursday. UK prime minister Keir Starmer is also expected to wade in, with a special emergency press conference convened for this morning.
Later today, the Danish and Greenlandic ministers will also meet with Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte, who has been one of Trump’s closest European partners.
But even being the extremely diplomatic (or sycophantic, if you ask his critics) and glass-half-full kind of person, the Dutchman couldn’t strike a particularly positive tone after his Sunday night call with Trump, saying in a terse readout that he “spoke 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.”
And yet…
Perhaps the most explosive revelation this morning comes from another direction, first reported by PBS journalist Nick Schifrin, and later widely reported in Europe.
Over the weekend, Trump sent a letter to Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre telling him that “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.”
(Norway doesn’t decide the Nobel Peace Prize, mind you. It’s an independent committee based in Oslo, not controlled by the Norwegian state.)
He added, magnanimously, “although [thinking about peace] will always be predominant, but [I] can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
Trump then doubled down on his threat against Denmark over Greenland, saying:
“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for Nato than any other person since its founding, and now, Nato should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”
Amusingly, the Norwegian PM has confirmed the authenticity of the letter to VG newspaper, saying it came in a response to his and Finnish president Alexander Stubb’s earlier message to Trump.
It’s going to be a crazy day today, so brace. I will bring you all the latest here.
It’s Monday, 19 January 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
Greenland’s dogsled federation welcomes withdrawal of invitation for US envoy to attend its annual race
Meanwhile, Greenland’s dogsled federation said that the new US special envoy to the Arctic island had been disinvited to its annual race, as Washington repeatedly threatens to take over the autonomous Danish territory, AFP reported.
Jeff Landry had been invited to attend the race by a private Greenlandic tour operator, an invite the KNQK federation has previously called “totally inappropriate”.
“KNQK has been informed that the tourism company that invited Governor Jeff Landry from the United States has unilaterally withdrawn its invitation,” it wrote on Facebook overnight. “This is reassuring,” it added.
Landry said last week he was planning to come to Greenland in March.
Jakub Krupa
I will carry the key lines from UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Greenland here so you have everything in one place, but if you’re after a more detailed blow-by-blow coverage of his remarks, Andrew Sparrow will have this over on the UK live blog.
We will also have a live stream for you to watch along.
The prime minister is expected to be joined by his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, as she has apparently withdrawn from her appearance at the London Stock Exchange this morning, while UK stocks are falling, as Lauren Almeida is reporting over on the business blog.
Germany, France push back against Trump’s ‘blackmail’ on tariffs and Greenland
Meanwhile, a number of other European countries are giving their increasingly hardline responses to Trump’s threats on trade and Greenland.
Germany’s vice-chancellor Lars Klingbeil said this morning that “we will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed,” as he insisted that Europe would “respond with a united, clear response.
“We are now preparing countermeasures together with our European partners,” he said.
His French counterpart, Roland Lescure, said that he would convene an urgent meeting of his counterparts from the G7 grouping to discuss Trump’s latest comments, but reiterated that France was “fully supportive of Greenland and Denmark.”
“Blackmail between friends is obviously unacceptable,” he said.
Trump’s explosive letter came in response to request for phone call, Norwegian PM says
Throwing a bit more light on Trump’s unusual letter stating how he’s no longer “purely” interested in peace, Jonas Gahr Støre, the Norwegian prime minister, said the message came shortly after he and Finland’s Alexander Stubb sent a letter opposing the proposed tariffs on some European countries.
“We pointed out the need to de-escalate the exchange of words and requested a phone call between Trump, Stubb and me during the day,” he told VG newspaper.
But he noted that “the response from Trump came only shortly after we had sent the message,” and Trump then decided to share the letter with other Nato countries’ representatives, too.
Støre also reiterated his support for Denmark and Greenland, and stressed that the state of Norway has nothing to do with the Nobel Peace Prize award-giving process.
Separately, numerous experts that the Norwegian paper spoke with called the letter a blatant attempt to “blackmail” Europe, with one particularly amused commentator telling VG that “the stupidity is so great that you hardly know where to begin.”
Morning opening: ‘I no longer feel obligation to think purely of peace’
Jakub Krupa
US president Donald Trump and senior members of his administration have repeatedly reiterated their determination to take control of Greenland overnight, 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.
Overnight, Trump said in a social media post:
“Nato has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that “you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.” Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!! President Donald J. Trump”
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent also pursued a similar line, telling NBC broadcaster that “Europeans project weakness, US projects strength.”
“The president believes enhanced security is not possible without Greenland being part of the US,” he said.
In further escalation, he also appeared to link the future of Greenland with the continuation of the US support for Ukraine.
He said:
“The 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.”
The issue of Greenland’s future will continue to dominate the news agenda today, as the Europeans coordinate their next steps ahead of this week’s extraordinary EU summit, expected on Thursday. UK prime minister Keir Starmer is also expected to wade in, with a special emergency press conference convened for this morning.
Later today, the Danish and Greenlandic ministers will also meet with Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte, who has been one of Trump’s closest European partners.
But even being the extremely diplomatic (or sycophantic, if you ask his critics) and glass-half-full kind of person, the Dutchman couldn’t strike a particularly positive tone after his Sunday night call with Trump, saying in a terse readout that he “spoke 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.”
And yet…
Perhaps the most explosive revelation this morning comes from another direction, first reported by PBS journalist Nick Schifrin, and later widely reported in Europe.
Over the weekend, Trump sent a letter to Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre telling him that “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.”
(Norway doesn’t decide the Nobel Peace Prize, mind you. It’s an independent committee based in Oslo, not controlled by the Norwegian state.)
He added, magnanimously, “although [thinking about peace] will always be predominant, but [I] can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
Trump then doubled down on his threat against Denmark over Greenland, saying:
“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for Nato than any other person since its founding, and now, Nato should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”
Amusingly, the Norwegian PM has confirmed the authenticity of the letter to VG newspaper, saying it came in a response to his and Finnish president Alexander Stubb’s earlier message to Trump.
It’s going to be a crazy day today, so brace. I will bring you all the latest here.
It’s Monday, 19 January 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.