Former national security official tears into 'mad king' Trump in profane rant

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not pictured) at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 29, 2025. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque

President Donald Trump's latest threats against key U.S. allies have one former government official "incensed" and heaping insults on both the president and members of his administration, according to a new report.

Vanity Fair's Aidan McLaughlin wrote Monday that Trump's message to Norway's prime minister — in which he blamed Norway for not giving him the Nobel Peace Prize — was not well-received by the diplomatic community. Trump told Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store: "I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace" and that he was now primarily driven by "what is good and proper for the United States of America." He concluded his message by reiterating his wishes to claim Greenland for the United States, even though the autonomous island territory already belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark.

"That's rhetoric that we've never seen from a U.S. president before," former U.S. Ambassador Mike Carpenter told Vanity Fair. "He's essentially saying, if you read between the lines, 'you didn't give me the Nobel Peace Prize, so I'm going to use coercive force to take territory from one of your neighbors.'"

One anonymous former National Security Council member took their criticism of the administration a step further. telling the outlet that Trump's rationale for annexing Greenland is only taken seriously by "a certain narrow circle of Americans" who are "trying to gaslight themselves into believing that it's true."

"This is the f—— Mad King tweeting and it's just remarkable how many senior people in this administration have no f—— balls, no f—— spine, and are peddling this crap like it's rational," the former official said. "Truly, those names need to be kept on a sheet of paper and remembered in the future, what they said and did at this moment."

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton (who worked in Trump's first administration before eventually being targeted himself after becoming one of Trump's most prominent conservative critics) also piled on. Bolton told Vanity Fair that Trump's bellicose rhetoric toward European allies illustrates how "out of control" he's become.

"The very notion that somebody can complain to the government of Norway — which doesn't decide who gets the Nobel Peace Prize — that he's not getting the Nobel Peace Prize while he's essentially threatening to invade the territory of a treaty ally is just too much for the mind to hold," Bolton said.

Click here to read McLaughlin's full report in Vanity Fair (subscription required).

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