Things just got a lot worse between the USA and its NATO allies. And relations might well deteriorate further at the imminent Davos meeting.

Should you need to read the text of the bizarre letter, see my blog of 18 January.

Here are some reactions to it:-

Occupy Democrats

Where do we even begin with this insanity? To point out the least important part first, the government of Norway has no say in who receives the Nobel Peace Prize. The award is decided by the Nobel Institute, which is located in Norway but is an independent entity.

Moving on to the meat of the matter, Trump admitting that he’s less interested in peace now because he was denied the peace prize should be grounds for impeachment or even removal under the 25th Amendment. These are the words of a lunatic dictator. He is clearly profoundly mentally unwell and is now threatening to invade a NATO nation because of a petty, personal perception that he was slighted.

To point out the painfully obvious, none of this in the best interests of the United States. We can already station as many troops and military assets in Greenland as we like under NATO agreements. Trump is alienating us from our closest allies and starting another destructive trade war because he’s angry that Barack Obama, a Black man, received an award that he’s been denied.

It’s no longer enough that we simply remove Trump from office. He needs to be prosecuted and locked up for the rest of his life as punishment for this never-ending crime spree.

We are truly through the looking glass now. Trump is so insane, so deeply tangled up in his own pettiness and narcissism, that he’s threatening to use the U.S. military against a NATO ally because an independent institute in another NATO country refused to give him a shiny medal. Our national security is being ripped apart to an atomic level due to the whims of a demented pedophile with historically low approval ratings.

It’s worth remembering that Trump’s fixation on the Nobel Peace Prize isn’t an arbitrary obsession. He’s furious and embarrassed that Barack Obama — a Black man, and thereby an inferior life form in Trump’s vile racist world-view — won the prize while he has not. It enrages him so much that he’s willing to tear down the entire post-World War II global order to make himself feel better. Pax Americana is ending because we elected a white supremacist real estate conman without a shred of impulse control.

Liberals were told by Republicans as well as commentators in the mainstream media that we were being paranoid when we said that Trump wanted to be a dictator. Now it’s clear that all of our criticisms, as harsh as they were, didn’t go far enough. Trump is no longer simply the worst, most corrupt president in American history. He’s an active threat to world peace.

Columnists

Trump’s Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw: Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him

Donald Trump is now using the language of an abusive husband. The US president has turned to the kind of threats anyone who’s been in a toxic relationship will recognise. . . . Trump is showing the world what he is: just your typical, toxic man. 

A relevant podcast

The Dawn of Trump’s America?

What Next?

Well, given long-time dependence on the USA, there are severe practical limits to what US allies can do in response to both this development and to whatever happens in Davos, Which is unlikely to be Trump rowing back.

It’s surely time for the Republican party to act. But, given that the pusillanimous members of Congress live in perpetual fear of a puffed-up, vainglorious and vengeful autocrat, can anyone be optimistic that the party will take action to restrain Trump? Either in respect of Greenland or, god forbid, Canada.

One thing is surely certain: US relations with Europe are so damaged it’ll be a long time before they recover. Assuming they ever do. The USA – and Americans – will not escape inviolate from this.

What this means for the world at large is anyone’s guess but it’s hard to be optimistic.