Trump ties his stance on Greenland to not getting Nobel Peace Prize

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” in a text message released Monday.

Trump's message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.

Those countries issued a forceful rebuke.

Many longtime allies of the U.S. remained resolute that Greenland was not for sale but encouraged Washington to discuss solutions. In a statement on social media, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc had “no interest to pick a fight” but would “hold our ground.”

The White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force. Asked whether Trump could invade Greenland, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Monday that “you can’t leave anything out until the president himself has decided to leave anything out.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also sought to de-escalate tensions Monday. "I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said, adding that he did not believe military action would occur.

Early Tuesday, Trump posted on social media that he had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and “I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland,” where they will be attending the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting this week.

Trump also posted a text message from Emmanuel Macron in which the French president suggested a meeting of members of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies in Paris after the Davos gathering.

Later, however, Trump posted some provocatively doctored images. One showed him planting the U.S. flag next to a sign reading “Greenland, U.S. Territory, Est. 2026.” The other showed Trump in the Oval Office next to a map that showed Greenland and Canada covered with the U.S. Stars and Stripes.

In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.

“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”

“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”

Trump’s Sunday message to Gahr Støre, released by the Norwegian government, read in part, “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.”

It concluded, “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

The White House confirmed the authenticity of the message, with White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly saying that Trump "is confident Greenlanders would be better served if protected by the United States from modern threats in the Arctic region.”

The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.

“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it, though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.

Speaking Monday night to reporters before boarding Air Force One on his way back from Florida to Washington, Trump said he didn’t “care about the Nobel prize.”

“A very fine woman felt that I deserved it and really wanted me to have the Nobel prize. And I appreciate that. If anybody thinks that Norway doesn’t control the Nobel prize, they’re just kidding. ... And I don’t care what Norway says. But I really don’t care about that. What I care about is saving lives," he said.

In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated the import taxes would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.

The move by some European countries to deploy troops may have given the impression that an armada of ships was sailing to Greenland, when the reality was that European nations said they would send not more than a few dozen troops collectively, a senior European military official told The Associated Press speaking on condition of anonymity in order to talk publicly.

Trump threatened eight European countries with tariffs Sunday after they announced small numbers of troop deployments to the Arctic island – including Denmark, which Greenland is part of.

The European move was aimed at taking action on Trump’s concerns, the senior official told the AP.

In a statement on social media, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he had discussed how important the region was for the "collective security" of the security alliance in a Monday meeting with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland.

Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President António Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.

Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Jill Lawless in London; Molly Quell in The Hague; Lorne Cook in Brussels and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen speaks during a protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A military vessel HDMS Knud Rasmussen of the Royal Danish Navy docked in Nuuk, Greenland, on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, center, walks with Minister for Foreign Affairs and Research of Greenland Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Denmark's Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, right, prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

FILE - President Donald Trump and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store shake hands during the group photo at the Gaza International Peace Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Oct.13 2025. (Yoan Valat, Pool photo via AP, File)

The Danish navy's inspection ship HDMS Vaedderen sails off Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish soldiers disembark at the harbor in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish soldiers disembark at the harbor in Nuuk, Greenland, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — An attacker armed with a rifle was fatally shot after ramming his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues Thursday in what federal investigators called an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.

Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the incident “deeply disturbing and tragic” and said that the FBI is leading the investigation.

The agency considers the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,” she said at a news conference Thursday. Investigators have not determined a motive yet.

“What drove this person into action has to be determined by the investigation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.

The vehicle caught fire after crashing into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, just outside Detroit, and driving through a hallway as security opened fire, authorities said.

None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured, Bouchard said.

“He was traveling with purpose down the hall, from my look at the video,” Bouchard said.

In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue. One security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said. And 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.

West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said Temple security officers “engaged the individual and neutralized the threat.”

The suspect was found dead inside his vehicle, Bouchard said.

Bouchard credited preparation and training for the swift response to the threat, saying that he had contacted the head of security for the temple just two days before the attack.

Rabbi Arianna Gordon, from Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood teachers for getting the children out safely and reunited with their parents, calling them the “true rock stars of the day.”

About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children soon after authorities cleared the building. Other families were reunited at a nearby Jewish Community Center.

Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter is enrolled in Temple Israel’s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.

“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she told the AP. “I was hoping that it was a false report.”

Jacobs, whose family is Jewish, said she tries not to think about all that’s going on in the world.

“You never think that this is actually going to happen to you,” she said. “But I know that it’s — it’s just terrible. This morning I was mourning the loss of the school that got hit in Iran.”

Synagogues around the world have been on edge and have been ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.

The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.

And an assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.

President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the attack, calling it a “terrible thing.”

Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, lamented the fact that his organization had to train and prepare for an attack.

“I’d love to say that I’m shocked, that I’m surprised, but I’m not,” he said during a news conference Thursday.

He added: “This will not change us. This will not deter us and we will continue.”

Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there.

“This is heartbreaking,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace.”

It was the second attack at a house of worship in Michigan within the past year. Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. The FBI later said he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website, which says the synagogue is “passionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe” and that its mission is to “create a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism.”

The Jewish Federation of Detroit briefly advised all Jewish organizations in the area to lock down.

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, said in a statement that the Michigan attack demonstrates yet again the consequences of hatred.

“We lose our humanity when we seek violent means as a solution,” said Myers, rabbi of the Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 worshippers died in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. “No one should dwell in fear because of who they are.”

This story has been corrected to show that the shooting at a church north of Detroit happened in September, not October.

Durkin Richer reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard speaks to media as police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton /Ann Arbor News via AP)

Law enforcement escort families with children away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

A woman gathers children as law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue, Thursday, March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

People gather near Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)