Trump doubts Greenland threats will spoil trade deal with Europe
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US President Donald Trump, when asked how far he was willing to go to secure Greenland, told reporters: “You’ll find out.”
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump expressed confidence that the European Union would continue to invest in the US even if he imposed new tariffs related to his quest to take control of Greenland, a proposal that has angered leaders on the continent.
Earlier on Jan 20, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that Mr Trump’s threats were a “mistake” that would violate the deal he forged in 2025 with the bloc.
Officials in Europe have begun drafting plans to retaliate
But the US President downplayed the chances they would follow through.
“I doubt it,” Mr Trump said at a White House press conference on Jan 20 when asked if moving forward with Greenland-related tariffs could trigger the EU to renege on investment pledges.
“They need that agreement very badly with us. They really do; they fought very hard to get it. So I doubt that.”
Mr Trump announced a 10 per cent tariff on goods from eight European countries
Mr Trump, when asked how far he was willing to go to secure the island, told reporters: “You’ll find out.”
His rare appearance in the White House briefing room came ahead of his departure on the night of Jan 20 from Washington for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he will confront European leaders who are furious over his bid to take over the territory of Denmark.
“The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July,” Dr von der Leyen said. “In politics as in business, a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.”
In a subsequent interview with NewsNation, Mr Trump indicated that he saw the deal as a reason Europe would not follow through with their threat – while shrugging off European officials who had threatened a trade “bazooka” in retaliation.
“I don’t think they really know what a bazooka means,” Mr Trump said. “And you know – see, anything they do with us, I’ll just meet it. All I have to do is meet it, and it’s going to go ricocheting backward.”
Mr Trump also reiterated his frustration with European fines on US tech firms, including Apple.
The transatlantic rift over the US President’s ambitions has overshadowed the annual gathering of the world’s financial and political elite and has soured Washington’s ties with several key allies.
Mr Trump broadly predicted that across “lots of meetings scheduled on Greenland” this week in Davos, “things are going to work out pretty well, actually”.
He downplayed criticism from European leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron and the Britain’s Keir Starmer, saying he expected a warmer reception in person.
“They always treat me well,” Mr Trump said. “They get a little bit rough when they’re – you know, when I’m not around, but when I’m around, they treat me very nicely.”
Mr Trump has intensified his pressure campaign in recent days, including by threatening to impose his tariffs on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Finland if they continue to oppose his bid.
Mr Trump’s designs on taking the island date back to his first term.
Those levies threaten to further roil markets that have seen stocks and the US dollar fall after Mr Trump’s threat, with gold hitting an all-time high.
Mr Trump has also said the use of military force to seize the island remains an option – a move that Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier in January would mean the end of NATO.
While the threatened potential invasion remains an unlikely scenario, Greenland’s leader said on Jan 20 that the authorities there need to start preparing, adding that a military conflict “can’t be ruled out”.
Mr Trump announced earlier on Jan 20 that he would meet with several parties in Davos to discuss Greenland and he dismissed suggestions that Europe would “push back too much” on his plans.
Mr Trump has argued the US must control the island for its national interests, claiming that failing to do so will leave it susceptible to Russian and Chinese influence.
He has also said that Denmark and other NATO partners have neglected to boost its security.
On Jan 20, he brushed aside questions of whether he was endangering the trans-Atlantic alliance that has been the bedrock of the post-World War II global order.
“I think that we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we’re going to be very happy,” Mr Trump said. “But we need it for security purposes. We need it for national security and even world security. It’s very important.”
He has also linked his claim to the territory to not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
On Jan 20, he repeated that charge and said “don’t let anyone tell you that Norway doesn’t control the shots”.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a series of interviews on Jan 20 in Davos, repeatedly urged US trading partners to not retaliate over Mr Trump’s threat to hit them with tariffs if they do not accede to his demands regarding Greenland and urged that they hear out the president during his visit.
“I am confident that the leaders will not escalate, and that this will work out in a manner that ends up in a very good place,” Mr Bessent said during a press conference.
Mr Bessent, like Mr Trump, also dismissed the prospect that Europeans would respond forcefully to the US.
Asked specifically about the danger of Europe selling off US Treasuries, a countermeasure that would have a seismic impact on markets, he called that speculation a “false narrative.”
European countries hold trillions of dollars of US bonds and stocks, some of which sit with public sector funds.
Selling such assets could potentially drive up borrowing costs and send equities down, given the US’s reliance on foreign capital.
Most market strategists believe there’s a low chance policymakers would ultimately go so far.
Mr Macron has also floated unleashing the European Union’s anti-coercion instruments to push back on the US, though German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has tamped down on that idea. BLOOMBERG
