Trump's Nobel Snub Letter, EU Eyes Tariff Response, More
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News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Jack Sidders. And I'm Stephen Carroll. President Trump has linked his desire for the US to own Greenland to not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a letter obtained by Bloomberg, Trump told Norway's Prime Minister that he no longer feels an obligation to think purely of peace. Here's our chief Europe correspondent, Oliver Crook.
Why did Trump link Greenland ownership to the Nobel Peace Prize?
I'll just read it here because it is fairly brief. Dear Jonas, considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace, although it will always be predominant. We can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect the land from Russia or China. And why would they have, quote unquote, right of ownership anyway? There are no written documents. It's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago. And it goes on from there. But really, basically, it seems that Donald Trump has now added another list of reasons why he feels the insistence and the importance of trying to take over Greenland and apparently not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is added to the list.
Bloomberg's Oliver Crook speaking there after the US president on Saturday announced a 10% levy due to take effect next month and rising to 25% by June on eight European countries, including the UK, Germany, France and Denmark. The move came after the nations committed to holding token NATO military drills in Greenland.
When news of the letter came as European leaders reacted with outrage to Trump's threat to impose tariffs on countries that oppose his desire to own Greenland, UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer blasted the tariff threat as completely wrong. France's president called it unacceptable and Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersen said his country wouldn't be blackmailed. US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant says that Europe is too weak to ensure the Arctic Territory's security.
If there were an attack on Greenland from Russia, from some other area, we would get dragged in. So better now, peace through strength, make it part of the United States, and there will not be a conflict because the United States right now, we are the hottest country in the world, we are the strongest country in the world. The Europeans project weakness, the U.S. projects strength.
Scott Besson's comments on NBC's Meet the Press came as European leaders forcefully pushed back against Trump's comments.
Those EU leaders will hold an emergency meeting in the coming days to discuss possible retaliation to Trump's latest tariff threat. Member states are discussing several options, including levies on more than $100 billion of US goods. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron says the bloc should consider using its most powerful trade tool, the anti-coercion instrument. That would allow the EU to impose additional tariffs, new taxes on tech companies or targeted curbs on investment in the bloc. Speaking on Sunday, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney sought to cool tensions between the world's biggest trading partners after speaking to President Trump.
I think it is necessary instead to resume the dialogue on this, to avoid an escalation from this point of view, and that is what I am working on. I spoke with Donald Trump a few hours ago, to whom I said what I think, and I spoke to the Secretary General of NATO, who confirms to me that NATO is starting to work from this point of view.
Despite Giorgio Maloney's efforts, Trump's plan to impose tariffs over Greenland calls into question the validity of the trade deal sealed last year between the EU and the US. That deal has already been partially implemented, but still needs approval from the European Parliament, which is now likely to halt the process.
An escalation of transatlantic tensions could risk a major market fallout, according to Deutsche Bank. Their global head of FX research, George Saravellos, notes that Europe is America's largest lender, with its countries owning $8 trillion of US bonds and equities.
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