When this note first came out, most people thought it was a fake. Nope. It's real. The text was forwarded by the White House National Security Council to ambassadors in Washington, and was clearly intended to be widely shared.
 |
| Source: Anne Telnaes |
Text message from President Trump to Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere,
January 18 at 4:15 pm Oslo time:
The bit-by-bit breakdown:
- your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize - Norway's government is not in charge of issuing the Nobel Peace Prize. An independent organization does that.
- having stopped 8 Wars PLUS - No. He has bombed 7 countries since taking office - Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
- Denmark's "right of ownership", no written documents - Denmark has a well-established claim to Greenland, recognized by international law, dating back to the 18th century when it began administering the island. The U.S. also acknowledged Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland in the 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement. Additionally, the Permanent Court of International Justice ruled in 1933 that Denmark had effective control over Greenland, further solidifying its ownership.
- Connecting the Nobel Peace Prize to Denmark - Norway and Denmark and two different countries. Why punish Denmark and Greenland for a grievance he has with Norway?
- I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding - He has taken direct action against NATO members and sided with autocrats over and over. "He is trying to form his own “Board of Peace,” apparently to replace the United Nations. A draft charter for that institution gives Trump the presidency, the right to choose his successor, veto power over any actions, and control of the $1 billion fee permanent members are required to pay." - HCR
READ MORE
Trump’s Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw: Will Republicans in Congress ever step in? By Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic. "One could observe many things about this document. One is the childish grammar, including the strange capitalizations (“Complete and Total Control”). Another is the loose grasp of history. Donald Trump did not end eight wars. Greenland has been Danish territory for centuries. Its residents are Danish citizens who vote in Danish elections. There are many “written documents” establishing Danish sovereignty in Greenland, including some signed by the United States. In his second term, Trump has done nothing for NATO—an organization that the U.S. created and theoretically leads, and that has only ever been used in defense of American interests. If the European members of NATO have begun spending more on their own defense (budgets to which the U.S. never contributed), that’s because of the threat they feel from Russia."
Letters From an American, Jan 19, 2026 - Heather Cox Richardson - "In just a year since his second inauguration, Trump has torn apart the work that took almost a century of struggle and painstaking negotiations from the world’s best diplomats to build. Since World War II, generations of world leaders, often led by the United States, created an international order designed to prevent future world wars. They worked out rules to defend peoples and nations from the aggressions of neighboring countries, and tried to guarantee that global trade, bolstered by freedom of the seas, would create a rising standard of living that would weaken the ability of demagogues to create loyal followings."
WHO TO CONTACT
Full text of d.j.t.'s note:
"Dear Jonas: 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, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. 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"