In a letter addressed to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Trump said he no longer feels “an obligation to think purely of peace.”
In the same letter, the US president reiterated his threats against Greenland, saying the United States needed “complete and total control of Greenland,” the semi-autonomous Danish territory.
The letter triggered a wave of disbelief and mockery across social media, with critics portraying the episode as emblematic of reckless leadership and personal grievance driving US foreign policy.
Mary L. Trump, the US president’s niece and an author, said the letter defied even her low expectations. “When I saw this letter, I literally thought, ‘This is too stupid even for him.’ I should have known better,” she wrote.
Others focused on what they described as Trump’s narcissism. Ed Krassenstein, a political commentator, called the letter “insane,” saying it showed why “you don’t elect a narcissist to be your president.”
He added, “Is this what you voted for, Trump’s supporters?”
Several social media commentators said they initially assumed the letter was fake, with geopolitics analyst, Rahul S.A,. saying he thought it was a joke until its authenticity was confirmed. Even for Trump, he wrote, the message was “so plainly daft, so remarkably ignorant, so flatulently crass, and so vilely untruthful,” that it seemed impossible.
As confirmation spread, reactions grew sharper. Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the New York Health Campaign, urged journalists to confront US lawmakers directly. She called on reporters to display the letter publicly and ask Republicans, “Why we shouldn’t impeach him when he wants to attack our allies because he didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Some observers highlighted what they saw as political sycophancy surrounding the US leader. François Valentin, mocked former MAGA figures in Europe who initially dismissed the letter as “fake news,” only to praise it moments later once its authenticity was confirmed, calling it “cultural revolution levels of sycophancy.”
Other X users expressed disbelief and alarm. One user wrote that the letter read like it had been authored by “a raving, hopelessly narcissistic madman,” warning that Trump appeared willing to risk a major war in Europe over Greenland. Another said the episode showed Trump would “start World War III” out of personal resentment.
Calls for impeachment also resurfaced on social media, with commentator Krown City King saying Trump had effectively put in writing that he wanted Greenland because he was not awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
“The prime minister of Norway confirmed this letter is real,” he wrote. “We are in the dumbest timeline ever.”
Other posts framed the incident as an unprecedented diplomatic embarrassment. Beachnut, wrote that Trump appeared angry at Sweden, Denmark and Norway simultaneously, saying he sent a “nasty, insulting letter” to an ally while signing it as president.
“Somebody in the White House needs to call the doctor,” the post said.
Academic commentator, The Provost said he was tempted to grade Trump’s letter like a failed student assignment.
"I can’t fight off the temptation to grade this in exactly the same manner I would if he were a student of mine," he wrote. "So give me like an hour or two so I can pick up another red pen. [yes, it’s real. I checked."
The backlash comes as Trump continues to insist that Greenland is vital to US security, citing exaggerated claims of Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic territory.
Denmark is a fellow member of NATO, the US-led military alliance founded on the principle that the members defend each other in the event of an external attack. There has never been a military attack by one NATO member against another since the alliance was formed in 1949.
Denmark has repeatedly warned that any US military action in Greenland would spell the end of NATO. The country has received support from European allies, with Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK deploying small numbers of personnel as part of a so-called reconnaissance mission.
Trump, however, dismissed the prospect of resistance from the European Union to his push to take over Greenland, saying it would not amount to “too much.”
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