Denied Nobel Peace Prize despite Stopping 8+ Wars: Trump

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has claimed he was denied the Nobel Peace Prize despite “stopping 8 wars plus,” a grievance he linked to renewed assertions that the United States must take control of Greenland.

According to reports, staff at the U.S. National Security Council circulated a letter authored by Trump to several European ambassadors in Washington, with the message addressed to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. In the letter, Trump wrote that because Norway “decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS,” he no longer felt obliged to think “purely of Peace,” adding that “the World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

Norway’s prime minister confirmed the authenticity of the letter to VG newspaper and responded in writing that the Nobel Peace Prize “is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee,” not by the Norwegian government. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has repeatedly stated that governments play no role in its decisions.

Trump’s comments came amid escalating rhetoric from Washington over Greenland’s future. In a social media post, Trump said, “NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland’… Now it is time, and it will be done!!!” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News that “Europeans project weakness, U.S. projects strength,” adding that Trump believes security cannot be enhanced without Greenland becoming part of the United States.

The controversy widened after Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump, which he accepted. Asked why he would take another person’s Nobel medal, Trump said, “Well, she offered it to me… you have ended eight wars, and nobody deserves this prize more than you do.” Machado said she offered the medal “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee responded by clarifying that a Nobel Peace Prize “can neither be shared nor transferred,” stressing that the original laureate remains the recipient regardless of what happens to the medal, diploma, or prize money. The committee declined to engage further in the political debate.

Trump has repeatedly described himself as a “president of peace,” citing conflicts he claims to have ended, including Israel–Hamas, Israel–Iran, India–Pakistan, Armenia–Azerbaijan, Serbia–Kosovo, Rwanda–Democratic Republic of Congo, Thailand–Cambodia, and Egypt–Ethiopia.

Several of these disputes were short-lived, unresolved, or did not involve active fighting, and some continue despite Trump’s claims. Trump told Fox News recently that the unresolved Thailand–Cambodia border dispute should count more than once. One of the “wars”, the conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia, involved a long-running Nile water dispute rather than fighting. It centered on Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Egypt says could reduce its water share.

The Greenland issue is now set to dominate European diplomacy ahead of an extraordinary EU summit this week, with Danish and Greenlandic ministers expected to meet Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, while U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is scheduled to address the issue publicly.