STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We have the text of a letter that President Trump sent to the prime minister of Norway. Here's a quote from this letter. "Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace." Now, to be clear, Norway did not give or withhold the Nobel Peace Prize. A committee in Norway did. But in any case, we have this letter first reported by PBS and confirmed by the prime minister to the newspaper VG. In this letter, the president goes on to question why Greenland is part of the kingdom of Denmark and renews his demand for the United States to take it over. Last week, NATO allies sent troops to participate in military exercises in Greenland.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Trump responded by announcing plans to place tariffs on goods that Americans import from those allies. In a few minutes, we're going to hear from a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, but we're going to start with a congressional delegation that has just wrapped up a tour of Denmark.
INSKEEP: NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt joins us now from Copenhagen. Hi there, Barbara.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: Who went and why?
SPRUNT: Well, it was a bipartisan group. It skewed heavily towards Democrats, but Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said we shouldn't take the lack of Republicans there as an indicator for a lack of their support, saying this delegation came together rather quickly. And the goal was to de-escalate a tense situation.
INSKEEP: OK. So what are they saying about the president's demands for Greenland then?
SPRUNT: Well, I spoke with Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. She said the president has shown a lack of understanding about the importance of allies to U.S. security.
JEANNE SHAHEEN: Anything that the president does to undermine those relationships, to undermine NATO, does nothing but give Vladimir Putin in Russia and President Xi in China reasons to celebrate. And you can bet they're celebrating now.
INSKEEP: This has prompted commentary about the end of NATO if the president were to go through, in some fashion, waging a military strike against a NATO ally. But the president has made this argument about Russia and China, saying the United States effectively has to get there first. What do lawmakers say about that?
SPRUNT: Many times this weekend, Steve, lawmakers said that they hadn't received any intelligence about this idea that Russia and China are encircling Greenland and posing an imminent threat. And as to national security for the United States, they point out that there is already cooperation between the kingdom of Denmark and the U.S. And the U.S., in fact, as you said, already has a military presence in Greenland.
INSKEEP: And a military commitment to Greenland under NATO's Article 5, an attack on Greenland would be considered an attack on the United States. So the U.S. is already in position to defend it. But what do people in Denmark say about the idea of losing this territory?
SPRUNT: Well, there was a massive demonstration on Saturday. Thousands of people marched to the U.S. Embassy. It was peaceful, but there was a lot of passion. I saw a lot of Greenland flags. I saw a lot of red hats that said Make America Go Away. Charlotte Holm, who's from Copenhagen and has family in Greenland, said she's worried about what happens to NATO if Trump gets what he wants.
CHARLOTTE HOLM: If we go across that line, there's no going back. You can't put the toothpaste back into the tube.
SPRUNT: And to be clear, this is a big topic of conversation here outside of the protest itself. I talked to William Bruss (ph), a 22-year-old law student, and he shared how he felt when he first heard of Trump's plan to acquire Greenland.
WILLIAM BRUSS: It's in some ways our big brother. It's a nation, the U.S., that we've always looked up to, felt that it was someone we shared values with, that what benefited the U.S. would benefit us and vice versa.
SPRUNT: And he says to see the U.S. perhaps throw away that cooperation is shocking.
INSKEEP: NPR's Barbara Sprunt in Copenhagen, Denmark. Barbara, safe travels.
SPRUNT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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