A U.S. senator has called for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump over news that he texted Norway’s prime minister with threats to take over Greenland because he wasn’t awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Over the weekend, Trump sent a text to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, saying, “I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace” because the Nobel Committee gave the peace prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado — who, in turn, gave Trump her Nobel prize last week. The texts were first published by PBS and were confirmed as accurate by Norwegian officials.
“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,” Trump said, repeating his false assertion about ending wars and ignoring the global unrest he’s sparked.
The text has sparked backlash from lawmakers.
On Monday, sharing a headline on Trump tying his campaign for Greenland to his loss of the Nobel prize, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) said: “Invoke the 25th Amendment.”
Markey is one of just a few Democrats to call for Trump’s impeachment over the text specifically, as well as one of a handful of senators who have called for him to be impeached over a great variety of illegal and corrupt actions he’s taken in his first year back in office alone.
Further on in his text, Trump questioned the legitimacy of Denmark’s ownership of Greenland, saying, “There are no written documents.” This is an issue that has been raised by many within Greenland who say that a process of self-determination would be the best route for the roughly 56,000 people living there — not another ownership or colonialist setup under the U.S. instead of Denmark.
“The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland,” Trump wrote.
The screed was apparently sent in response to a text from Norwegian leaders opposing Trump’s threat to use tariffs to compel Denmark to sell Greenland to the U.S., which has been widely condemned by European officials.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) slammed Trump for his reasoning, calling it “pathetic” and calling for the GOP to back efforts in Congress to bar Trump from attacking Greenland or otherwise trying to take the region. Trump has not ruled out using military force to seize the territory.
“My Republican colleagues must take notice: The U.S. cannot base foreign policy on whether or not a president gets a prize,” said Sanders in a post on X on Monday.
“This is pathetic. It is petty and dangerous narcissism — behavior we might expect from a spoiled child, not the leader of a democratic nation,” he went on.
Just after midnight on Tuesday, Trump posted a picture on Truth Social showing a map of Canada, Greenland, and Venezuela as part of the U.S.
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