Trump's campaign to take possession of Greenland has intensified sharply, according to NBC News. The president declared Saturday he would implement 10% tariffs targeting Denmark alongside seven other European countries, maintaining the economic penalties until Washington secures an agreement for Greenland's transfer to US control, the outlet stated.

A novel dimension emerged in Trump's standoff with longstanding European partners when he tied the Greenland matter to his 2025 Nobel Peace Prize defeat, NBC News noted. Sunday brought a text message from the president to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre explicitly connecting these issues, with Støre later making the exchange public under Norway's disclosure statutes, his press office confirmed.

The message Trump sent read: "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," NBC News reported. PBS first revealed the text, which the Norwegian prime minister's statement authenticated, according to the outlet.

Trump's social media platform carried his announcement that the tariffs would commence Feb. 1, with Norway numbered among the targeted states, NBC News stated.

Monday saw Støre issue a formal response, the outlet reported. "Norway's position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter," the Norwegian leader declared.

Each year, a five-member body appointed by Norway's parliament bestows the Nobel Peace Prize, NBC News noted. The 2025 honor went to Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition figure, according to the report. Last week at the White House, Machado presented Trump with her 18-karat gold medal in recognition of his military operation that toppled Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, the outlet stated.

Trump challenged assertions that Norway lacks influence over Nobel Peace Prize decisions and that an independent committee holds sole authority, NBC News reported. The president told the outlet: "Norway totally controls it despite what they say."

His critique continued, according to NBC News. "They like to say they have nothing to do with it, but they have everything thing to do with it," Trump added.

Others have contradicted this view, the outlet noted. Lewis Lukens, a senior diplomatic official at the US Embassy in London throughout Trump's initial term, questioned the president's position in a recent interview, NBC News stated.

"I'm not sure who Trump thinks he can intimidate or pressure to get a prize. One would hope that he has people around him who are telling him there's no point in antagonizing or pressuring the Norwegian government, because they have nothing to do with it," Lukens said, according to the report.

Trump revisited a familiar argument about the Nobel distinction, NBC News noted. His peacemaking work has halted eight wars and spared countless lives – a superior accomplishment to any medal, the president contended.

"I don't care about the Nobel Prize," Trump stated in the interview, the outlet reported.

European leaders opposing his Greenland acquisition efforts also drew Trump's criticism, with the president describing the territory as vital for defending national security from foreign threats, according to NBC News. Trump said: "Europe ought to focus on the war with Russia and Ukraine because, frankly, you see what that's gotten them," adding, "That's what Europe should focus on — not Greenland."

Asked whether he would proceed with the European tariff threats absent a Greenland deal, Trump declared: "I will, 100%," NBC News reported.

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Despite the president's demands, NBC News reported that advisers have not guaranteed a swift collapse of the Iranian leadership following a strike. Furthermore, officials expressed concern to the outlet regarding the sufficiency of regional assets to withstand an aggressive response. Consequently, the president may consider limited initial strikes while maintaining escalation dominance, according to NBC News. During a visit to Detroit, Trump told protesters "help is on its way" and termed the situation "fragile."

The White House pointed NBC News to the president's Oval Office remarks when asked for clarification. Trump told reporters he received intelligence that lethal crackdowns had ceased. "We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they said the killing has stopped and the executions won't take place," he said, according to NBC News. He added a caveat: "I hope it's true. Who knows?" Regarding military action, he stated: "We're going to watch and see what the process is," as reported by NBC News.

Sources confirmed to NBC News that the president remains willing to use military force to support the opposition. On Tuesday, the Defense Department tailored options to meet the president's specific objectives, NBC News reported. A White House official told the outlet: "All options are at President Trump's disposal to address the situation in Iran," asserting that "he means what he says." Vice President JD Vance led a Tuesday meeting on the crisis, where the president requested updated casualty data, according to NBC News.

US Central Command has updated its contingency plans, NBC News reported. Following high-level strategy sessions, officials worry that a desperate regime could lash out at US forces and allies like Israel. During Operation Midnight Hammer in June, the US received advance warning of Iranian retaliation in Qatar. Hundreds of troops evacuated Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar for safer locations as a precaution.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters, the president discussed the potential collapse of the clerical rule. While acknowledging the high death toll, he expressed reservations about Pahlavi, the son of the late shah. "He seems very nice, but I don't know how he'd play within his own country," Trump told Reuters. "And we really aren't up to that point yet." He continued: "I don't know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me."

Reuters observed that the opposition remains fractured. The president admitted to the outlet that "any regime can fail." "Whether or not it falls or not, it's going to be an interesting period of time," he said, according to Reuters.

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Spanberger, 47, based her campaign heavily on economic and affordability issues, public safety, and her support for abortion rights, NBC News reported. Her campaign also attacked Earle-Sears over her conservative social issue record and her loyalty to Trump.

In her victory speech in Richmond, Spanberger stated, "Tonight, we sent message," according to NBC News. "We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025 Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our Commonwealth over chaos." She promised to "focus relentlessly" on "lowering costs, keeping our communities safe and strengthening our economy for every Virginian."

Earle-Sears, 61, Virginia's lieutenant governor, struggled to find a coherent message. She tried to emphasize the accomplishments of GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin's administration and championed "parents' rights" in schools. She also frequently praised Trump though the president never offered a formal endorsement and failed to mention her by name in a Monday night tele-rally.

During her concession speech, Earle-Sears acknowledged that many had "counted me out" but "we kept plugging and plugging." She also noted, according to NBC News, that Spanberger "ran as a moderate." Earle-Sears added, "If she governs as one, then she will unite us, and she'll heal our divides and win our support."

A former CIA officer, Spanberger flipped a Republican-held House seat in 2018 and cultivated an image as a more moderate Democrat during her gubernatorial campaign. NBC News reported she attracted numerous high-profile Democrats and potential 2028 presidential candidates to campaign with her, reinforcing her anti-Trump message in the race's final days.

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The evaluation, which forms part of the Trump administration's continuing efforts to assess Iran's nuclear program status following the facility strikes, was presented to certain US legislators, Defense Department personnel and allied nations in recent days, four of those sources confirmed to NBC News.

NBC News has also discovered that US Central Command had formulated a far more extensive plan to attack Iran that would have involved targeting three additional locations in an operation spanning several weeks rather than a single evening, according to one current US official and two former US officials.

President Donald Trump received briefings on that comprehensive plan, but it was ultimately rejected because it conflicted with his foreign policy instincts to withdraw the United States from international conflicts rather than deepen involvement, along with the potential for significant casualties on both sides, one current official and one former official explained to NBC News.

"We were willing to go all the way in our options, but the president did not want to," one source with knowledge of the plan stated.

In remarks delivered in the hours following the strikes, Trump characterized the attacks he authorized as "a spectacular military success" and declared, "Iran's key enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated."

The actual situation as determined through intelligence gathering appears more complex. Should the preliminary findings regarding the damage inflicted on Iran's nuclear program prove accurate as additional intelligence emerges, the United States might find itself returning to conflict in the region.

Discussions have taken place within both American and Israeli governments regarding whether additional strikes on the two less-damaged facilities might be required if Iran fails to agree soon to restart negotiations with the Trump administration on a nuclear agreement or if signs emerge that Iran is attempting to rebuild at those locations, one current official and one former official told NBC News. Iran has consistently maintained its nuclear program serves purely peaceful, civilian purposes.

The recent assessment represents a current snapshot of the damage US strikes caused amid an intelligence-collection process that administration officials have indicated will continue for months. Evaluations of Iran's nuclear program following the US strikes are anticipated to evolve over time, and according to two current officials, as the process advances, the findings suggest greater damage than previous assessments indicated. That assessment remains the current understanding of the strikes' impact, officials confirmed to NBC News.

"As the President has said and experts have verified, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told NBC News in a statement. "America and the world are safer, thanks to his decisive action."

In his own statement, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declared to NBC News: "The credibility of the Fake News Media is similar to that of the current state of the Iranian nuclear facilities: destroyed, in the dirt, and will take years to recover. President Trump was clear and the American people understand: Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz were completely and totally obliterated. There is no doubt about that."

He added, "Operation Midnight Hammer was a significant blow to Iran's nuclear capabilities thanks to the decisive action of President Trump and the bravery of every man and woman in uniform who supported this mission."

Destruction and deterrence

The US strikes targeted three enrichment facilities in Iran: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. US officials believe the assault on Fordo, which has long been considered a critical element of Iran's nuclear ambitions, succeeded in setting back Iranian enrichment capabilities at that location by as much as two years, according to two current officials who spoke to NBC News.

Much of the administration's public communications about the strikes has concentrated on Fordo. In a Pentagon briefing conducted in response to reporting on an initial Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that concluded Iran's nuclear program had been delayed by only three to six months, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke extensively about the Fordo strike but not the attacks at Natanz and Isfahan.

US officials knew prior to the airstrikes that Iran possessed structures and enriched uranium at Natanz and Isfahan that were likely beyond the reach of even America's 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) GBU-57 "bunker buster" bombs, three sources told NBC News. Those bombs, which had never been deployed in combat before the strikes, were designed specifically with the deeply buried facilities carved into mountain sides at Fordo in mind.

As early as 2023, however, indications emerged that Iran was constructing tunnels at Natanz that extended below where the GBU-57 could penetrate. Deep underground tunnels also exist at Isfahan. The United States struck surface targets at Isfahan with Tomahawk missiles and did not deploy GBU-57s there, but utilized them at Natanz.

White House officials directed NBC News to a closed-door briefing conducted in late June by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who informed lawmakers that Iran's nuclear program was "severely damaged" and that several key nuclear facilities were "completely destroyed," according to an administration official's description of the briefing provided to NBC News. Ratcliffe stated the only metal conversion facility at Natanz, required for nuclear enrichment, was destroyed to the point that it would take "years to rebuild," according to a White House official authorized to describe portions of the classified briefing.

Ratcliffe also indicated that the intelligence community believes the strikes buried the vast majority of enriched uranium at Isfahan and Fordo and that therefore it would be extremely difficult for the Iranians to extract it to resume enrichment, according to the official who spoke to NBC News. The United States has not observed indications that Iran is attempting to excavate the facilities, two officials confirmed.

As NBC News has reported, the Israeli government believes at least some of Iran's highly enriched uranium remains intact but buried beneath the Isfahan facility, according to a senior Israeli government official who briefed reporters in Washington last week. The official stated, however, that Israel considers the material effectively unreachable, because it is monitoring and will conduct new strikes if it believes Iran is attempting to dig up the uranium. The official also indicated Israel believes Iran's nuclear program has been set back by up to two years.

Similarly, even if the targeted Iranian nuclear sites were not completely destroyed, US officials and Republican supporters of the operation consider it successful because it has altered the strategic equation for Iran. From their perspective, the regime in Tehran now faces a credible threat of additional airstrikes if Israel and the United States believe it is attempting to revive clandestine nuclear work.

Asked late last month whether he would consider bombing Iran again if intelligence reports concluded Iran can enrich uranium at a level that concerns him, Trump responded: "Sure. Without question. Absolutely."

Iran's air defenses have been largely eliminated, making it virtually impossible for Iran to defend against further strikes on facilities in the future, the White House official stated to NBC News.

"It was made clear that Iran no longer has any more [air defenses], so the idea that they can easily rebuild anything is ludicrous," the White House official said.

The 'all-in' plan

Beginning during the Biden administration, as early as last fall and continuing into this spring, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, had developed a plan to go "all-in" on striking Iran, according to a current US official and two former officials who spoke to NBC News. That option was designed to "truly decimate" Iran's nuclear capabilities, in the words of one former official.

Under the plan, the United States would have struck six sites. The reasoning was that the six sites would need to be hit repeatedly to inflict the kind of damage necessary to completely end the program, people familiar with the thinking told NBC News. The plan would also have involved targeting more of Iran's air defense and ballistic missile capabilities, and planners projected it could result in a high number of Iranian casualties. US officials expected that if that were to occur, Iran would target American positions, for example in Iraq and Syria, a person familiar with the plan explained to NBC News.

"It would be a protracted air campaign," the person said.

Some Trump administration officials believed a deeper offensive option against Iran was a viable policy, two former officials told NBC News.

Trump was briefed on the so-called all-in plan, but it was ultimately rejected because it would have required a sustained period of conflict.

The history

During his first term, in 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers that was negotiated during the Obama administration. The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, imposed strict limitations on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for an easing of economic sanctions.

Under the deal, Iran was a year away from obtaining enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb. After Trump withdrew from the accord and reimposed sanctions, Iran violated restrictions on its uranium enrichment. Before the June airstrikes, the regime had enough fissile material for about nine to 10 bombs, according to US officials and United Nations inspectors who spoke to NBC News.

Trump has since sought a new agreement with Iran that would prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Indirect talks between US and Iranian officials failed to secure a deal before Israel launched airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

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