Donald Trump has linked his repeated threats to seize control of Greenland to the fact that he has not been awarded the Nobel peace prize in an extraordinary letter sent to the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre.
The US president said in the letter – the authenticity of which was confirmed by Støre to the Norwegian newspaper VG on Monday – that after failing to win the prize, he no longer felt the need to think “purely of peace”.
The incident occurred just as US lawmakers wrapped up a “reassurance tour” in Denmark and European Union ambassadors were leaning toward negotiation after holding an emergency meeting on Sunday.
WaPo: “Europeans see alliance at risk as Trump stokes trade war over Greenland”
Nick Schifrin was among the first to leak the text of the letter on the former Twitter:
NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials…
British writer and former lawmaker Daniel Hannan added:
This is plainly deranged. He is a threat to his country and to the world. The Nixon, Clinton and, indeed, Trump impeachments were triggered by less.
Alexander Willis at Raw Story has more media reaction.
European leaders reacted quickly. HuffPo:
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Sunday hit back at President Donald Trump’s fresh tariff threats over Greenland. “We want to cooperate, and it is not we who are seeking conflict,” Frederiksen wrote on Facebook. “And I am pleased with the consistent messages from the rest of the continent: Europe will not be blackmailed.”
The consensus on Mediaite is that Sundowning Donnie Felon needs an intervention – and there are too many great comments to quote here.
Janna Brancolini at Daily Beast:
There is no longer any denying the president is unable to carry out the demands of his office. … Even by Trump’s standards, this letter is so dangerous and so delusional that there is no longer any question that the president is mentally “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” as laid out in the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.
And Crooks and Liars‘ Cliff Schecter has a great podcast rundown of the situation.
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