(NewsNation) — A top U.S. diplomat disagrees President Trump exhibited a bruised ego when he complained to Norway’s prime minister about not getting a Nobel Peace Prize, and she criticized the Nobel Committee and European leaders for failing to recognize Trump’s achievements.
“It’s certainly less about ego and a reminder where Europe drops the ball, what they’re willing to recognize,” Ambassador Tammy Bruce, the deputy U.S. representative to the United Nations, told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Monday.
Earlier, several news agencies reported Trump sent a written message to Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere as tensions escalate over the Republican president’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric about the U.S. obtaining Greenland, which threatens to ignite a trade war.
“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,” said Trump, even though an independent panel makes the decision.
“That committee is certainly influenced by Norway. It’s influenced, perhaps, by the world,” Bruce said. “It’s a statement that has mattered.”
She suggested the Nobel organization erred by giving President Obama the Peace Prize in 2009 when he was barely into his first term in office, compared with Trump, who Bruce said “has done more for peace around the world than anyone in recent memory.”
On Trump’s insistence about the U.S. acquiring Greenland, Bruce repeated the president’s claims it would be in the interest of national security.
“In this case, I think it’s wise to take him seriously. He feels that this is imperative,” Bruce said. “We should believe him, and for every European and every other leader around the world: Do not underestimate him.”
Ex-NATO chief: Trump may be placated with honorary Greenland title
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former commander of NATO, holds out hope that diplomacy will win the day in getting Trump to back off from his Greenland push while satisfying the U.S. that the island is secure from Russian and Chinese influence.
“There’s no easy solution to this. It’s going to have to be some kind of diplomatic, face-saving artifice,” Clark told “NewsNation Now” on Monday. “Maybe President Trump becomes protector general of the Arctic and sets up a council. Maybe he gets acknowledged that the United States has, in writing, some special security responsibilities of the Arctic.”
Observers like Clark have said the flare-up threatens U.S. involvement with NATO and relationships with allies that were solidified after World War II.
