Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attempted to play clean up Tuesday in the wake of President Donald Trump’s “deranged” letter he penned this week that sent shockwaves across the globe.
In doing so, he openly contradicted the president’s own words.
Trump sent a letter Sunday night to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to express his outrage over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, despite the award being issued by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, not the Norwegian government.
He also cited the perceived award snub as a rationale for his increasingly aggressive efforts to acquire Greenland, saying that after being denied the award, he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of peace.”
Appearing on Fox Business Tuesday in Davos, Switzerland, Bessent was asked about Trump’s letter and quickly dismissed the backlash surrounding it.
“I think it’s a complete canard that there’s any kind of equivalence with the Nobel Prize, this has been on the president’s mind since his first term!” Bessent said, referring to Greenland. That was despite of Trump being the one to invoke his perceived award snub in the context of his efforts to acquire the territory.
“It’s been on the presidential mind for 150, 160 years, the U.S. trying to acquire Greenland.”
Despite Trump having aggressively lobbied for himself to be issued the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee instead awarded Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado with the award last year. Machado has positioned herself as the successor to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following his capture by the United States earlier this month, though Trump has openly dismissed the idea — reportedly due to a grudge over her not turning down the award.
Machado has since given her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump as a gift, though the Norwegian Nobel Committee has issued a statement reiterating that the award “cannot be shared or transferred to others.”
Bessent on Greenland: “I think it’s a complete canard that there’s any kind of an equivalence with the Nobel Prize. This has been on the president’s mind since his first term.” (Trump himself brought up the Nobel Prize in the context of taking over Greenland.) pic.twitter.com/D3cng5zFbh — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 20, 2026
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