Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Donald Trump, FIFA World Cup, Norway, United States
Ryan Smart
Donald Trump has sent a letter to the Prime Minister of a World Cup nation amid a row over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize and the status of Greenland.
Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October.
US President Trump repeatedly stated his belief that he deserved to win the Prize, though the Committee announced that Machado had been chosen as the winner for 'her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy'.
Nobel chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes added that the 58-year-old had been a 'key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided... in a brutal authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis'.
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Trump was said to have congratulated Machado on her victory.
The Trump administration captured Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro and his wife on January 3 and transported them back to the United States, where they were charged with drug trafficking. The pair have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The US have since been working with Venezuela's acting head of state Delcy Rodriguez, rather than Machado, to govern the country on an interim basis.
Last Friday, Machado visited the White House and presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal.
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On social media, the US President described Machado's actions as 'a wonderful gesture of mutual respect', with the Venezuelan opposition leader telling reporters: "I think today is a historic day for us Venezuelans."
The Nobel committee, which is based in Norway, have clarified, however, that the Peace Prize itself cannot be transferred to another person once it has been awarded.
In recent days, there have been escalating tensions between the Trump administration and Europe over Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
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Trump wants the US to have possession of Greenland, stating on his Truth Social page that the country needs it 'to get the Russian threat away from Greenland', adding that it 'will be done'.
Greenland's strategic location and large mineral deposits have been put forward as other reasons behind Trump's desire to take the island.
The US President also hasn't ruled out using force against a member of NATO in order to capture the island.
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European leaders have opposed his stance and sent military personnel to Greenland, leading to Trump threatening to impose increased trade tariffs on a group of eight countries - the UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland.
The Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store - whose nation have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is due to be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico - sent a text message to Trump alongside Finland president Alexander Stubb.
He later confirmed to Norwegian outlet VG that he had received a reply from Trump himself.
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The reply, which was first published on social media by US journalist Nick Schifrin, read: "Dear Jonas: 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.
"Denmark cannot protect that land [Greenland] from Russia or China, and why do they have a "right of ownership" anyway? There are no written documents, it's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also.
"I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States.
"The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT."