German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said Europe wants to "avoid escalation" over US President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs on countries that oppose his designs on Greenland.

Trump shook Europe on Saturday when he vowed to slap EU members Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden – and non-members Britain and Norway – with extra levies unless Greenland is ceded to the United States.

Germany and other European countries agreed "that we want to avoid any escalation in this dispute if at all possible", Merz said, adding that he would seek to meet Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.

"We simply want to try to resolve this problem together, and the American government knows that we could also retaliate. I don't want to, but if necessary, we will of course protect our European interests as well as our German national interests."

Leaders from the 27-nation bloc will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday to discuss their response to one of the gravest crises in years to hit transatlantic ties.

Merz said the threatened tariffs would harm both the US and Europe.

"Customs duties are usually paid by those in the country where the imports are received – in this case, American consumers," Merz said.

"But (the tariffs) would also, of course, damage our economy, the European economy and, in particular, the German economy."

Meanwhile, Trump told Norway's prime minister he no longer needed to think "purely of peace" after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in a message published on Monday.

Trump went on to reiterate his desire for the US to take control of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, in the interest of world peace.

"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," Trump said in a message to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

He said although peace would still be "predominant," he could "now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America."

Store's office confirmed the authenticity of the document.

In a written comment, Store underlined that the Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded by the Norwegian government.

"I have clearly explained, including to president Trump what is well known – the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel committee," Store said. (AFP)