Trump: I won’t use force to take Greenland
Onto Nato, Trump says “we give so much, and we get so little in return.”
Trump says the US only gets “death, disruption, and massive amounts of cash [given] to people who don’t appreciate what we do.” – and he’s taking about both Nato and Europe generally.
Trump then points out Nato chief Mark Rutte in the audience – who this morning was complimentary about Trump’s pressure to raise military spending among Nato members.
Trump then appears to state that he won’t use force to obtain Greenland.
We won’t get anything unless I use excessive strength and force, when we would be unstoppable.
I won’t use force.
Trump then claims that the US has got “nothing out of Nato”, apart from protecting Europe from Russia.
[This is, frankly, offensive. Nato’s collective defence pledge, Article 5, has only been activated once, after 9/11].
And Trump then repeats his desire to acquire Greenland.
Share
Updated at 14.18 GMT
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Green energy campaigners are quick to criticise Trump’s comments on green energy, and his call for more drilling in the North Sea today.
Greenpeace UK climate campaigner Lily-Rose Ellis says the US president is wrong to call for more fossil fuel drilling there:
“Trump’s knowledge of North Sea oil and gas amounts to a tottering pile of lies. More oil and gas from UK fields won’t take a penny off our energy bills, taxes on drilling firms are a lot lower than he claims, and gas reserves are running dry.
Our best hope of lowering bills and boosting energy security is to fix our draughty homes and double down on homegrown renewables. The UK government can safely ignore advice from a climate denier bankrolled by the fossil fuel industry and keep working to protect the country from the volatility of oil and gas.”
Tessa Khan, executive director at Uplift, says Trump’s views on UK energy policy are ill-informed, to say the least.
Last year he claimed the UK has 100 years of reserves left, now its 500 years. It’s nonsense.
“After more than fifty years, the UK has burned most of its gas and what’s left of the oil is increasingly difficult and expensive to extract. Regardless of any new drilling, the UK will be dependent on gas imports for nearly two thirds of its gas in just five years time and almost 100 per cent by 2050.
“Of course Donald Trump wants us to remain dependent on fossil fuels – and on US gas specifically – but that’s not in the UK’s national interest. Renewable energy, which we’re lucky to have in abundance, is the only way to reduce our exposure to energy price shocks and mean we are not at the mercy of bad actors like Putin or the whims of Trump.
“Trump is cheerleader-in-chief for an industry that has made obscene profits while millions of people here have struggled with unaffordable energy bills, and which is fuelling the rapid changes we’re seeing to our climate.
“Lets not take advice from a man who thinks climate change is a con job, who is pursuing a policy of US ‘energy dominance’ and who has openly used force to seize the world’s oil resources.”
Share
Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, says there’s nothing new in Donald Trump’s speech to Davos apart from the pledge not to use force against Greenland- which he says was “never on the table” anyway.
So while it will make headlines, Mark Carney’s speech yesterday (about the rupture in the world order) is the one that matters.
nothing new from trump davos speech other than saying he wouldn’t use force against greenland…which was never on the table.
will make headlines. but carney’s speech is the one that mattered.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) January 21, 2026
Share
This is curious…. the AFP newswire are reporting that Ukrainian president Zelenskyy is in Kyiv, not at Davos today as Trump suggested in his speech when he said he’d meet with him here (see earlier post).
Share
Back on the Russia-Ukraine war, Trump seems baffled by the poor relations between Moscow and Kyiv.
There is “abnormal hatred” in the relationship, he says.
Share
On Greenland, Trump is like a dog with a meaty bone.
He says the current situation is costing Denmark hundreds of millions of dollars to run it.
It’s very important that we use it for national, and international security, he insists.
It will allow the US to “create a power that will make it impossible for the bad guys to do anything against the perceived good ones.”
Nato has treated the US very unfairly, he claims.
Share
Trump’s now taking a few questions from top WEF operative Børge Brende.
After a jibe at Scott Bessent’s youthful footballing skills (or lack of), Trump then compliments China’s president Xi.
He says he’s always had a very good relation with president Xi, and president Putin – the heads of the “larger powers”.
Xi is an incredible man, Trump gushes, adding what he’s done “is amazing”, he’s respected by everyone.
We then get an anecdote about Xi asked Trump to stop referring to Covid-19 as the “China virus”.
ShareJakub Krupa
As Trump starts taking questions in Davos, the chair of the European parliament’s trade committee Bernd Lange confirms that “the EU-US deal is on hold until further notice” as the lawmakers pause its implementation process.
In a social media post, he added:
“Our negotiating team just decided to suspend work … on the legal implementation of Turnberry deal. Our sovereignty and territorial integrity are at stake. Business as usual impossible.”
Share
Trump finally wraps up his speech, saying:
The US is back, bigger, stronger than ever before
I’ll see you around.
Some members of the audience stand up to applaud, but it doesn’t feel like as warm a reaction as Mark Carney got yesterday for his speech about the rupture facing the world economy.
You can read a transcript of Carney’s speech here:
And you can read analysis of that speech here:
Share
Updated at 15.29 GMT
On Minnesota, Trump criticises the “mass import” of foreign cultures, citing Somalia.
He then hits out at “fake congressperson” Ilhan Omar, criticising her for “telling us how to run America”
[Omar is the representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, so offering such input is rather within her remit].
ShareJakub Krupa
Also worth mentioning, as I did the other day, that in 1916 the then US state secretary Robert Lensing issued a statement saying the US “will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.”
It was part of a broader deal in which the US and Denmark agreed to trade West Indies.
“In proceeding this day to the signature of the Convention respecting the cession of the Danish West-Indian Islands to the United States of America, the undersigned Secretary of State of the United States of America, duly authorized by his Government, has the honor to declare that the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.
Robert Lansing.
New York, August 4, 1916”
Share
Here are some more images of Trump at Davos:
US President Donald Trump Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ReutersShare
Updated at 14.49 GMT
We also get a lengthy riff about Trump’s negotiations with Switzerland over tariffs.
He warns that lower Swiss tariffs doesn’t mean they can’t go up – a great way to cheer his hosts.
And, is Trump feeling conscious about his age?
He remarks that while he doesn’t feel old, he is among the older members at Davos.
Share
Updated at 14.50 GMT
Fact check: Trump repeats baseless claim that the US ‘gave back’ Greenland to Denmark
Shrai Popat
Throughout his speech today, Donald Trump has repeated a baseless claim that the US returned Greenland to Denmark after the second world war.
“We already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago,” the president said.
It’s a common refrain from the president, but it’s worth noting that the United States has never owned the autonomous territory.
It’s been a part of the Kingdom of Denmark for centuries, a fact that is established under international law, and recognised by the US.
While the US did set up military bases in Greenland (via a wartime security agreement with Denmark) during the second world war, it didn’t confer any actual ownership.
In 1946, then-president Harry Truman secretly pitched to buy Greenland, but it was ultimately rejected by the Danish.
Share
Trump then claims the US should have the lowest interest rates in the world – because “without us”, other countries would have nothing.
[Trump has something of a point here – US government debt is the ‘risk-free’ asset in the financial markets. America, with its control of the dollar, should never have to default.
However, long-term government bond yields also reflect market expectations for inflation, and thus interest rates].
He then hits out at investors for pushing down the stock market when there is great economic news, because they think interest rates will go up.
Share
Trump says he wants to build ‘greatest Golden Dome ever built’ over Greenland
Jakub Krupa
Trump says that if there’s ever a nuclear war, “those missiles will be flying right over the centre of that piece of ice” (that’s Greenland) and he says he needs it to build “the greatest Golden Dome ever built.”
He also adds that the installation would also protect Canada, saying “Canada gets a lot of freebies from us,” saying it’s prime minister Mark Carney should be “grateful”.
There is also a random shout out to Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling him not to claim credit for the Golden Dome technology, as it’s American.
Share
Onto monetary policy, and Trump says he will annouce the identity of the next chair of the Federal Reserve very soon.
“He” will do a very good job, Trump predicts – meaning we can rule out half the US population from getting the top central banking job.
All the candidaters are great, they could all could do a fantastic job, Trump continues, before chucking an elbow at the incumbent, the “terrible chairman” Jerome “too late” Powell.
Share
Trump talks about his plans to bring down the cost of living in America.
With a swipe at Joe Biden (a ‘horrible president’), Trump tells Davos he signed an executive order yesterday which tries to advance his effort to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.
He adds that he is calling on Congress to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year.
This will help Americans save for a home, he says.
Share
Trump then turns to Emmanuel Macron, questioning why the French president gave a speech yesterday in some rather natty sunglasses.
[reportedly, Macron has an eye infection]
“I actually like him, it’s hard to believe,” Trump jibes, before relating how he used the threat of tariffs to persude European countries to cut the cost of prescription drugs in the US.
And in a painful moment, Trump says you can say he’s brought down drug prices by 2,000%.
The fake news, he says, might only call it a 90% reduction, but that sounds “much worse”. [although more accurate].
Share
