Did trump send a letter to prime minister of Norway regarding Greenland

Checked on January 21, 2026
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Executive summary

President Donald Trump did send a written message to Norway’s prime minister that directly referenced Greenland and demanded U.S. control; Norway released the exchange — which media outlets variously call a “letter” and a “text message” — and it contains Trump’s line that “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland” and his claim that because he was denied the Nobel Peace Prize he “no longer feel[s] an obligation to think purely of Peace” [1] [2] [3].

1. The communication: letter, text or both — what was released and by whom

Norway’s government made public the full exchange between Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and President Trump under the country’s freedom-of-information rules, and Reuters published the released text as the official record of the exchange, showing a short four-line back-and-forth in which Trump’s message includes the Greenland demand and the Nobel snub line [1]; major outlets — The New York Times, BBC and others — reproduced the same exchange as a “text message” provided by Norway’s office [4] [3].

2. What Trump actually wrote or texted about Greenland and the Nobel Prize

The disclosed message attributed to President Trump asserts U.S. national-security grounds for seizing Greenland — including the capitalized phrase “Complete and Total Control of Greenland” — and links his stance to frustration at not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, saying he “no longer feel[s] an obligation to think purely of Peace,” language reported verbatim by Reuters, The New York Times, BBC and other outlets that published the released exchange [1] [4] [3].

3. How journalists and commentators characterized the message

Media coverage described the communication with strong adjectives: Sky News called the letter “extraordinary” and fact-checked its claims [5], The Independent and The Atlantic framed it as bizarre and unprecedented in its tone and implications [6] [7], and PBS and The Guardian reported the policy fallout and the prime minister’s attempts to de‑escalate, showing how the content was treated as a substantive provocation rather than mere rhetoric [8] [9].

4. Diplomatic and political consequences recorded in reporting

The message triggered immediate diplomatic pushback and policy signaling: Trump had already announced tariffs tied to countries opposing U.S. control of Greenland, and outlets noted NATO and European leaders publicly rejecting any U.S. seizure of the territory and defending Danish sovereignty and Greenlanders’ rights to decide their future [10] [3]. U.S. lawmakers and commentators called the president’s conduct embarrassing or unprecedented, with Republican Rep. Don Bacon and others criticizing the move in coverage by The Hill and related outlets [11].

5. Disputed claims and caveats in the public record

Several fact-checkable assertions in the message were challenged in reporting: multiple outlets emphasized that the Norwegian government does not award the Nobel Peace Prize — an independent committee does — and commentators flagged historical and legal inaccuracies about Danish sovereignty over Greenland cited in the message [7] [3]. Coverage also notes that while the message was shared broadly by Norway’s office and republished by U.S. media, the White House did not initially provide its own official release of a formal “letter” text beyond the material disclosed by Norway [10] [4].

6. Bottom line: did he send it?

Yes — according to Norway’s government release and multiple independent news organizations that published the exchange, President Trump sent a written message (reported as a text/letter) to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that addressed Greenland directly, demanded U.S. control, and tied that demand rhetorically to a Nobel Peace Prize grievance; the exchange as released is the primary basis for all subsequent reporting and international reaction [1] [4] [2].

Want to dive deeper?
What legal mechanisms would the United States need to use to alter Greenland's sovereignty under international law?
How have NATO allies and the Kingdom of Denmark publicly responded to U.S. demands about Greenland since the released message?
What precedents exist for heads of state publicly linking personal grievances—like awards—to foreign policy actions?