By Charles Maduka
US President Donald Trump has told the Prime Minister of Norway that he no longer needs to think purely about peace after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump made the comment in a message sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, which was made public on Monday.
In the message, Trump repeated his interest in the United States taking control of Greenland, an autonomous territory under Denmark, saying it would be in the interest of global peace.
Trump said that since Norway did not award him the Nobel Peace Prize for what he described as stopping eight wars, he no longer felt obliged to focus only on peace.
He added that although peace would still matter, he would now focus on what he believed was good and proper for the United States.
The Norwegian prime minister’s office later confirmed that the message was genuine.
In a written response, Store explained that the Norwegian government does not decide who wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
He said he had already made it clear to Trump that the award is decided by an independent Nobel Committee.
Trump also repeated his claim that Denmark cannot protect Greenland from threats posed by Russia or China.
He questioned Denmark’s right to ownership of the territory, arguing that historical claims were weak and that the United States also had historical presence there.
Trump said the world would not be safe unless the United States had full control of Greenland.
Reacting to Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would not comment on claims about Russian interest in Greenland.
Peskov said there had been a lot of disturbing information recently but declined to respond directly to Trump’s statements.
He added that some international experts believe Trump would go down in history if the issue of Greenland’s control is resolved, both in the United States and globally.
Trump had earlier campaigned strongly for the Nobel Peace Prize, claiming credit for stopping several wars.
However, the prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who later dedicated the award to Trump and reportedly handed her medal to him.
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