Trump vows there’s ‘no going back’ on Greenland
US President Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated image of himself planting the American flag on Greenland and doubled down with a warning that “there’s no going back”.
Source: CNN
The picture on Truth Social shows Trump staking his claim on the Danish territory, backed by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump also trolled European leaders — including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte — with a doctored photo of them in the Oval Office viewing a map showing Greenland, Canada, and Venezuela as part of the US.
Trump was on Wednesday (AEDT) marking one year since his inauguration and held a rambling press conference at the White House.
Meanwhile, world leaders were meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum.
In a speech, Macron took a swipe at Trump and warned of a “shift towards a world without rules where international law is trampled under foot and the only rule that seems to matter is the rule of the strongest”.
He said the planet was reaching a time of “instability and imbalance” where “conflict has become normalised” and he warned of a “shift towards autocracy”.
“We do prefer respect to bullies,” Macron said. “We do prefer rule of law to brutality.”
Macron’s speech came as Trump shared text messages from Macron.
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“My friend … I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Macron wrote to Trump. “Let us try to build great things.”
Macron also invited Trump to dinner in Paris and proposed hosting a meeting with “Ukrainians, the Danish, the Syrians and the Russians”.
Emmanuel Macron addresses the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: AAP
Nobel prize snub
Earlier, 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 Jonas Gahr Store he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace”.
Store issued a statement on social media platform X saying “threats have no place among allies”.
On Saturday, Trump announced a 10 per cent import tax from February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.
Those countries issued a forceful rebuke.
Many long-time allies of the US 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”.
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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 “you can’t leave anything out until the President himself has decided to leave anything out”.
Starmer also sought to de-escalate tensions.
“I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said, adding that he did not believe there would be military action.
Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat.
“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?” she said.
Trump’s text message to Støre was released by the Norwegian government.
“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,” Trump wrote.
“The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
The White House confirmed the authenticity of the message.
Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the independent Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado in 2025.
Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it. Trump later said he didn’t care about the prize.
“A very fine woman felt that I deserved it and really wanted me to have the Nobel prize. And I appreciate that,” he said.
“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.
-with AAP
