Key events
5m ago
Nato ‘would have been in ash heap of history’ if it wasn’t for me, Trump says
7m ago
Lithuania’s Nausėda calls for EU-US deal on Arctic security to end Greenland tensions
13m ago
European parliament to freeze ratification of EU-US trade deal
13m ago
Stubb says recent talks on Greenland ‘give me little bit of hope’ on finding way through tensions
21m ago
Macron declares ‘full support’ in message to Greenlandic people
27m ago
Gavin Newsom attacks Europe’s ‘complicity’ over Trump Greenland demands
36m ago
European leaders line up to condemn Trump’s ‘new colonialism’ in Davos – first take
49m ago
Canada ‘stands firmly’ with Greenland, Denmark, supports their ‘unique right’ to determine Greenland’s future, Canada’s Carney says
2h ago
Danish PM says she will not abandon Greenland
2h ago
Meloni faces domestic criticism for positioning herself as mediator with Trump over Greenland
2h ago
Zelenskyy says he is ‘worried’ Greenland dispute could shift attention away from Russia’s war on Ukraine
2h ago
No country has the right to take over territory of another, EU foreign policy chief says amid Trump threat to seize Greenland
3h ago
Military US attack on Greenland ‘not likely’, but cannot be ‘ruled out,’ PM says, as he warns of consequences
3h ago
Belgium yet to take position on countermeasures or ‘trade bazooka’ against US despite fighting rhetoric from PM – snap analysis
3h ago
US Bessent criticises Spain for defence spending, UK for Chagos islands deal
3h ago
US Bessent tells Europe to ‘take deep breath’ and ‘not retaliate’ on trade
3h ago
Don’t waste time with crazy ideas, Macron says, as he rejects ‘new imperialism or colonialism’
3h ago
‘We know what we have to fix: growth, peace, climate,’ Macron says in call to ‘not be divided’
3h ago
‘Crazy’ to think of EU having to respond to ‘useless aggressivity’ of US tariff threats, Macron says
3h ago
‘We prefer respect over bullies,’ Macron says as pitches Europe as place for business
3h ago
Macron talks about Europe’s trade response to US, China policies
4h ago
Macron paints choice between ‘new colonial approach’ and ‘law of strongest’ and ‘effective multilateralism’
4h ago
Macron warns about crumbling multilateralism as takes aim at US, China’s policies
4h ago
Marcon warns about instability and imbalances in today’s world before taking swipe at Trump’s war record
4h ago
France’s Macron addressing Davos – watch live
4h ago
The day so far – summary
4h ago
‘if anyone starts trade war against us … we must respond,’ Danish prime minister says
4h ago
EU cannot ‘stay herbivore’ in post-atlantic world, Belgium’s De Wever says
4h ago
‘They have to behave like ally,’ Belgium’s De Wever tells US, as “unfortunately not” granted it will remain ally under Trump
4h ago
‘Europe must tell Trump: this far and no further. Back down or we will go all the way,’ Belgian PM says
5h ago
Croatia’s Plenković hints at EU trip to Ukraine on fourth anniversary of Ukraine war
5h ago
Europe learned ‘hard way’ about its previous mistakes and illusions, Belgium’s de Wever says
5h ago
Trump ‘crossing red lines’ and 80 years of atlanticism could be drawing to close if he doesn’t change tack, Belgian PM says
5h ago
Lithuania’s president ‘sceptical’ about peace settlement on Ukraine as Russia continues with ‘imperialist’ ambitions
6h ago
Von der Leyen rolls out pitch for ‘EU Inc’ as she rebukes Trump over tariff threats – snap analysis
6h ago
US tariffs risk ‘plunging us into downward spiral,’ von der Leyen warns
6h ago
Proposed US tariffs on European partners ‘a mistake,’ von der Leyen says
6h ago
‘This must end’, EU’s von der Leyen says of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine
7h ago
EU’s von der Leyen highlights regulatory, capital, investment reforms in push to rival US, China
7h ago
‘New Europe already emerging,’ von der Leyen says as she hails new trade deals and lauds ‘fair trade over tariffs’
7h ago
EU’s von der Leyen warns ‘nostalgia’ will ‘not bring back old order’ as she calls for ‘new independent’ Europe
7h ago
EU’s von der Leyen speaks at Davos
7h ago
Greenland not ‘natural part’ of Denmark, Russia says
7h ago
US treasury secretary Bessent urges Europe not to retaliate against Trump’s Greenland tariffs
8h ago
UK defends Chagos deal from Trump’s criticism
8h ago
Morning opening: Trump takes aim at UK, France, Macron, Greenland in busy overnight Truth Social session
9h ago
Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos deal, Nigel Farage says
9h ago
What was contained within the UK-Chagos Islands agreement?
10h ago
Trump says UK’s decision to hand over sovereignty to Chagos Islands is act of ‘great stupidity’
10h ago
Macron’s text message shared by Trump on Truth Social is authentic, source says
10h ago
Trump says ‘no going back’ on Greenland
10h ago
Opening summary
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Nato ‘would have been in ash heap of history’ if it wasn’t for me, Trump says
Donald Trump is back online klaxon!
He has just posted on Truth Social claiming that “no single person, or president, has done more for Nato than president Donald J. Trump.”
He added:
“If I didn’t come along, there would be no Nato right now!!!
It would have been in the ash heap of History.
Sad, but TRUE!!! President DJT”
Somewhat confusingly, he also earlier “re-Truthed” – or reposted – a post claiming that China and Russia were “the boogeymen,” and “the real threat” was from the UN, Nato, and Islam.
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Updated at 16.53 GMT
Lithuania’s Nausėda calls for EU-US deal on Arctic security to end Greenland tensions
Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nausėda suggested an agreement on sharing responsibility for the security of the Arctic and the North Atlantic could offer a way out of the standoff between the United States and Europe over Greenland.
Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nausėda attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters
In an interview with Reuters, Nausėda told Reuters that the Greenland row was overshadowing the war in Ukraine and playing into Russia’s hands and urged Washington to de-escalate the dispute.
“The best outcome would be just to agree on common responsibility on the security of the Arctic region and North Atlantic region. Is it possible to achieve? We should do our best to go this way, because this is the best way,” he said.
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European parliament to freeze ratification of EU-US trade deal
Jennifer Rankin
in Brussels
The European parliament will freeze ratification of the EU-US trade deal in response to Donald Trump’s tariff threats to European countries who oppose his takeover of Greenland.
General view of a plenary room of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters
The European parliament had been due to vote in the coming weeks on introducing 0% tariffs on US industrial goods, a key part of the deal signed between Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland last summer.
Senior MEPs on the European parliament’s international trade committee are expected to announce the formal suspension of ratification of the Turnberry deal on Wednesday, after a deal between the largest political groups, a European parliament source said.
The writing was on the wall after the leader of the European parliament’s largest political group, the centre-right European People’s Party, announced over the weekend that approval of 0% tariffs for the US must be put on hold.
“The EPP is in favour of the EU–US trade deal, but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage,” Manfred Weber said after Trump’s X announcement.
Socialists, centrist MEPs and Greens had already called for the deal to be put on hold over Trump’s threats to Greenland.
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Stubb says recent talks on Greenland ‘give me little bit of hope’ on finding way through tensions
Separately, colleagues on the business blog have picked up a line from Finland’s Alexander Stubb interview with Bloomberg earlier today (£), in which he said his recent talks “gave him a little bit of hope” that tensions over Greenland could be soon resolved.
“The latest conversations that I’ve had about this subject in the past two to three hours – this is how fast things are changing in the new foreign-policy world – give me a little bit of hope that we’ll find a way,” Stubb said.
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Macron declares ‘full support’ in message to Greenlandic people
A reporter with the Danish public broadcaster DR briefly spoke with France’s Emmanuel Macron after his speech in Davos, asking him for a brief message to the people of Greenland.
The French president replied:
“Full support. We stand with you, I love your country.”
He added “the people of Denmark and Greenlandic people are great people,” and noted he “went there a few months ago,” back in June.
French president Emmanuel Macron, Greenland’s prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen attend a joint press conference in Nuuk, Greenland. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Gavin Newsom attacks Europe’s ‘complicity’ over Trump Greenland demands
Andrew Roth
Global affairs correspondent
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has decried Europeans for their “complicity” in failing to stand up to Donald Trump’s demands that he be allowed to buy or annex Greenland.
California governor Gavin Newsom speaks to the media as he attends the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Newsom, a frontrunner among Democratic candidates for president in 2028, told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that Europeans were being “played” by Trump and that their efforts to negotiate with him were “not diplomacy, it’s stupidity”.
“It’s time to buck up, it’s time to get serious and stop being complicit,” he told reporters. “I can’t take this complicity. People rolling over. I should have brought kneepads for all the world leaders … this is pathetic.”
Newsom regularly suggests that US politicians who cosy up to Trump should be given kneepads – making it easier to kneel – and he sells them on his website. “For all your groveling to Trump needs now in Republican red,” reads the advertisement for the kneepads, which bear a copy of Trump’s signature. “For the low low price of your soul.”
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European leaders line up to condemn Trump’s ‘new colonialism’ in Davos – first take
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
European leaders have lined up to condemn Donald Trump’s “new colonialism” and warn that the continent was facing a crossroads as the US president said there was no going back on his goal of controlling Greenland.
Participants leave after a plenary session in the Congress Hall at the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photograph: Laurent Gilliéron/EPA
On Tuesday, after weeks of aggressive threats by Trump to seize the vast Arctic island, which is a largely autonomous part of Denmark, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he preferred “respect to bullies” and the “rule of law to brutality”.
Macron told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that now was “not a time for new imperialism or new colonialism”, criticising the “useless aggressivity” of Trump’s pledge to levy tariffs on countries that oppose a US takeover of Greenland.
The US was seeking to “weaken and subordinate Europe” by demanding “maximum concessions” and imposing tariffs that were “fundamentally unacceptable – even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty”, he said.
Trump has ramped up his push to grab Greenland in recent weeks, saying the US would take control of the vast Arctic island “one way or the other” and: “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”
The European Commission president said Trump’s threat to impose a 10% tariff on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland unless they dropped their objections to his plans was “a mistake”.
Appearing to call Trump’s trustworthiness into question, Ursula von der Leyen also noted that the EU and US had “agreed to a trade deal last July, and in politics, as in business, a deal is a deal. When friends shake hands, it must mean something.”
Europeans, she added, “consider the people of the US not just our allies, but our friends”. She warned against plunging relations into “a downward spiral”, but said the EU’s response, if necessary, would be “unflinching, united and proportional”.
Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, said Europe was “at a crossroads” and “so many red lines are being crossed” by Trump that the continent had to stand up for itself or “lose its dignity … The most precious thing you can have in a democracy.”
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Canada ‘stands firmly’ with Greenland, Denmark, supports their ‘unique right’ to determine Greenland’s future, Canada’s Carney says
Meanwhile, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney is now speaking on the main stage, outlining his thinking which he says was best defined by the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, as “value-based realism.”
Canada prime minister Mark Carney speaks during a plenary session in the Congress Hall at the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA
That’s an interesting link-up and worth noting that Carney specifically credits Stubb – a very influential figure in European politics and one of few European leaders regularly speaking to US Trump – for the term.
“We aim to be both principled and pragmatic.
Principled in our commitment to fundamental values, sovereignty, territorial integrity, the prohibition of the use of force except when consistent with the UN Charter and respect for human rights, and pragmatic in recognising that progress is often incremental, that interests diverge, that not every partner will share all of our values.”
Carney says that in Ukraine, Canada remains “a core member” of the Coalition of the Willing, and a committed member of Nato.
He also turns to Greenland and says:
“We stand firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland’s future.”
He gets applause for that.
He also says Canada “strongly opposes” tariffs over Greenland and calls for talks to resolve these differences of view.
In the Q&A, he says say that while security discussions on securing the Arctic are legitimately important, he believes there is a “better outcome that come from the discussions that have been catalysed in the unusual way.”
He says “Russia is, without a question, a threat in the Arctic” and it “does lots of horrible things” as he takes this opportunity to condemn its continuous attacks on Ukraine.
But he says “the threat is more prospective than actual at this stage” and “we intend to keep it that way.”
Carney also spoke about Trump’s “board of peace” idea for Gaza, with business colleagues covering the key lines on that here.
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Updated at 16.12 GMT
But in his comments, Lutnick also spoke about Greenland, joining a growing list of senior US administration figures speaking on this issue.
He initially didn’t want to respond to a question on this, saying it was “unnecessary.”
But he eventually opened up just a tiny bit, saying:
“The western hemisphere is vital for the United States of America.
Our national security people are on it, and they care about it, and I’m going to leave it to them to address with our allies, with our friends and with everyone how they work it out.
But the western hemisphere matters to the US, and … when America shines, the world shines.”
Not entirely sure that argument will convince many European partners.
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For more business reactions to Trump’s threat of tariffs, head over to our business blog, with comments from UK finance minister Rachel Reeves, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and others.
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By the way, the viability of Trump’s threat of new tariffs on the EU could also somewhat change if the US supreme court rules against him in a pending judgment on the legality of his similar moves from last year.
But we won’t know this today, as per the latest update, and it’s not immediately clear what is the next date the court will issue opinions on, Shrai Popat reports over on the US blog.
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Danish PM says she will not abandon Greenland
Meanwhile, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said she will “not abandon Greenland” in her latest comments on growing tensions with the US, Reuters reported.
In further comments reported by the Danish media, Frederiksen insisted that Denmark and Europe “have no other desire than to maintain” the transatlantic alliance, pointing to its importance over the decades.
But she said she was “not naive” about the escalating rhetoric from the US on Greenland, a part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The Danish PM also said that while there may be no decisions at this Thursday’s European Council emergency summit, the key thing was to be ready to whatever comes on 1 February, when Trump said his punitive tariffs would come into force.
Frederiksen also defended the Danish decision to not attend Davos, asking the public to trust that these decisions were made in the best interest of the country as it responds to the Greenland crisis.
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Meloni faces domestic criticism for positioning herself as mediator with Trump over Greenland
Angela Giuffrida
in Rome
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni has been accused by her political rivals of “subservience” towards Donald Trump as she positions herself as Europe’s mediator with the US president over Greenland.
US president Donald Trump greets Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni during a summit on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh in October last year. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AFP/Getty Images
Meloni, who is ideologically aligned with Trump, on Sunday said that she had told him his threatened tariffs on European countries that recently sent troops to Greenland were a “mistake” and that his administration had perhaps misunderstood the move.
Meloni stressed the necessity to “resume dialogue” between Europe and the US and “avoid escalation”, saying there had been “a problem of understanding and communication”.
The far-right Italian premier, who was the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration last January, has long played a delicate balancing act as she strives to maintain friendly relations with the US president and her allegiance with European partners.
But opposition leaders say this approach could be detrimental for Italy and Europe, and have urged Meloni to address parliament over the Greenland issue.
“Giorgia Meloni should have been clearer,” said Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic party. “It’s not enough to say that Donald Trump was wrong. The foreign policy of a great country like Italy cannot be reduced to waiting and interpreting what Trump will say or do.”
Schlein added that Italy has ended up on the back foot. “If your only ambition is to be the most Trumpian government in Europe, it is inevitable that you will slip into marginality and into contradiction with the rest of the EU.”
Chiara Braga, a politician with the PD, said Meloni’s “subservience” towards Trump over Greenland was “bad for our country and for Europe”.
“We must deploy all the democratic power has in Europe to ensure an appropriate response,” she told Fanpage.it. “This doesn’t mean calling into question the historical alliance with the United States, but rather defending multilateral organisations to the fullest, including Nato, which is obviously the target of this latest push by Trump.”
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Yohannes Lowe here. I’ll be handing the blog back over to Jakub Krupa now as he has returned from his break.
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Zelenskyy says he is ‘worried’ Greenland dispute could shift attention away from Russia’s war on Ukraine
As we mentioned in a previous post, while European leaders are scrambling over how to effectively respond to the latest US threats, Russia’s war on Ukraine is continuing unabated, with an overnight aerial assault reportedly triggering widespread outages of electricity, water, and heating, including in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is “worried” that the Greenland dispute could shift attention away from the war in Ukraine, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reports.
“I’m worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war,” Zelenskyy was quoted as having told reporters.
“We have a full-scale war, we have a specific aggressor, and we have specific victims,” Zelenskyy said, as he urged Washington to engage in diplomacy with Europe.
“I want very, very much America to hear Europe, to truly hear it in the format of diplomacy. I think that’s what will happen and I strongly believe there won’t be any major threats,” he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for Washington to engage in diplomacy with Europe. Photograph: Tom Nicholson/PA
Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said over the weekend that talks with US officials on ending the war would continue at the WEF in Davos.
Umerov said that two days of talks in Florida with a US team including Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had focused on security guarantees and a postwar recovery plan for Ukraine.
However, Russia has stuck to its maximalist demands and given no indication it will accept any deal without Ukraine’s entire Donbas region being handed over for a start.
Moreover, Zelenskyy said earlier today that he would travel to Davos only if documents on US security guarantees and a prosperity plan were ready to be signed there, according to the Reuters news agency.
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Updated at 14.59 GMT
No country has the right to take over territory of another, EU foreign policy chief says amid Trump threat to seize Greenland
We can bring you some comments from the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, who addressed the European Parliament earlier today after saying the bloc would hold its ground on Greenland in the face of the US threatening to seize control of the Arctic territory.
In her speech, Kallas acknowledged the growing strategic importance of Greenland, whose location between North America and the Arctic means it is in a good position for early warning systems in the event of a missile attack from Russia, for example.
“Geopolitical tension and geo-economic competition in the Arctic require that the European Union, together with partners, responds,” she said. “Our response must be realistic and principled, and it must be guided by the international law.”
“No country has the right to take over the territory of another. Not in Ukraine, not in Greenland, not anywhere in the world,” Kallas said.
Kaja Kallas said the EU is working to update its own Arctic strategy amid the threat of the US taking over Greenland. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA
Kallas said Moscow’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has fundamentally re-shaped the European security landscape, with Russia “intensifying hybrid activities while militarising parts of the region”.
She said work is under way to update the EU’s arctic policy to reflect the shifting security situation. “Security is not only about military presence,” she said. “It’s all about trust, it’s about stability, it’s about people.”
Kallas said Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on eight countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK) that opposed the US president over Greenland undermined the prosperity of both the EU and America.
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Updated at 14.35 GMT
Jakub Krupa
It’s a quick break for me, Jakub Krupa, but my brilliant colleague Yohannes Lowe is here to bring you the latest.
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Military US attack on Greenland ‘not likely’, but cannot be ‘ruled out,’ PM says, as he warns of consequences
Miranda Bryant
Nordic correspondent
The Greenlandic prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen has said that it is not likely that US military force will be used against the Arctic territory, but that it cannot be “ruled out either”.
Greenland’s prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen (2nd R) and Greenland’s Minister for Finance and Taxes Múte Bourup Egede (R) address a press conference in Greenland’s capital Nuuk. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images
Speaking at a joint press conference in Nuuk with Muté B. Egede, Greenland’s former prime minister, said “nothing is ruled out” and that if Greenland, which is part of Nato, is attacked, it will have “consequences for the outside world.”
He said:
“It is not likely that military force will be used, but it is not ruled out either, the other party has made that clear.”
He added:
“Therefore, we must be prepared for all possibilities.
But we emphasise that Greenland is part of Nato, and if there is an escalation, it will also have consequences for the outside world.”
Jens-Frederik Nielsen also said there is “no doubt” that Greenland will need a larger military presence amid rising tensions in the Arctic.
“If we look at the defence sector, we can see that there are a lot of exercises from allied countries, and there is growing tension in the Arctic. And there is no doubt that we need to have a larger military presence.”
But to talk about ownership of Greenland, he said, is unacceptable.
Greenland is in a “good dialogue” with the EU, said Nielsen, a relationship that it is looking to “strengthen”.
The former prime minister, Múte B Egede, said that the whole of Greenlandic society is “emotionally affected” by what is going on.
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