Main Points
- Emmanuel Macron has invited Donald Trump to talks in Paris about his plans for Greenland. In a text shared by US president, the French leader said he “he did not understand” Trump’s stance
- Trump has said that he thought European leaders would not “push back too much” on his attempt to buy Greenland. “We have to have it. They have to have this done,” he told reporters
- European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU’s response to Trump’s recent threats would be “unflinching”
- Trump answered questions about NATO and Greenland in his press conference today, saying tariffs are the “least complicated” option
- Trump claimed that no-one - “no single person, or president” - has ever done more for the Nato military alliance than he has
Key Reads
- Coercion from aggressive superpowers must be resisted, says Canadian PM
- European leaders hope to avoid Greenland dispute escalating into trade war
- Keith Duggan: Donald Trump’s White House is now a volatile force of change and whimsy
- Bleak times in Copenhagen: ‘It’s like fifth graders bullying the small guy in the corner’
- What has Greenland ever brought Denmark?
- Global Briefing: The EU needs to understand the world can leave the US alone. Sign up for the newsletter from Denis Staunton
That’s all from our live coverage of events today.
Thank you for reading and we will be back tomorrow with all the latest coverage of Donald Trump’s meetings in Davos and the ongoing situation with Greenland.
Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk said, “Europe cannot afford to be weak - neither against its enemies, nor ally.
He made this statement on the social media platform X, adding, “European assertiveness and self-confidence have become the need of the moment.”
Speaking earlier to RTÉ News, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris said what Trump is saying is being taken “extraordinarily seriously, because it has to be.”
“If there is any form of annexation of Greenland, no matter how that might come about, there’s no doubt in my mind that that would become a Rubicon moment and the risk there is that that would cause a spiraling effect, a chain of events that could cause significant financial damage to European economies and indeed to US economies.”
“There is a window here between now and the first of February and we must use every hour to intensively engage as President Trump likes to talk about having cards, he doesn’t have all the cards here.”
He says Europe must work together. “We must be coordinated. We must work in a cool, calm and collected way.”
“Let’s be very clear. We will respond. We will respond accordingly, we will respond as President von der Leyen said, without flinching."
“Ireland doesn’t want tariffs full stop. Ireland wants to find a way for it, so does Europe, but everything is on the table should we see a situation by the United States of America intends to annex in some manner or means Greenland.”
When asked about the Taoiseach visiting the White House this St Patrick’s Day, Minister Harris said, “well its always much easier to go when everyone if getting along great. But leadership is actually about going when times are tough, when times are challenging. Our relationship with the United States of America is much bigger than any one person or any one moment in time.”
He also said there is currently no proposals to revisit the use of Shannon Airport by US military.
Trump was asked, “If a consequence of your determination to take control of Greenland is the ultimate break-up of the Nato alliance, is that a price you’re wiling to pay?” by a journalist present.
In response he said, “nobody has done more for Nato than I have ... in every way.”
He believes they will work something out that will keep him and Nato very happy.
“But we need it [Greenland] for security purposes, we need it for national security and even world security, its very important.”
Asked if he is committed to keeping the US in Nato, he said “I’ve had such a good relationship, I’ve made it so much better, so much stronger, its so good now, Nato is so much stronger now.
“I don’t agree with a lot of the things they’ve done, but that was done before I got there. I think Nato’s been good. Sometimes its overrated, sometimes its not. We have a strong Nato.
“Whether you like it or not, its only as good as we are. If Nato does not have us, Nato is not very strong.”
When asked what gives the US the right to take away Greenland’s self determination, Trump said that when he speaks to Greenlandic people, “I’m sure they will be thrilled.”
“With Venezuelan oil, we have taken 50 million gallons of oil ... out of Venezuela in the first four days. We’ve got millions of barrels of oil left, we’re selling it to the open market. We’re bringing down oil prices incredibly and when they come down and they have already come down, again $1.99 a gallon for oil. Nobody thought they’d ever see it,” he said.
“We’re just going to have to see how things go with Iran, we have the military option.”
Trump claims he has saved millions of people from the eight wars he halted.
“We inherited a mess and we made it a beautiful picture,” is how Trump explained why he held this press conference to recap on his first year in office in this term.
Trump says tariffs are the “least complicated” option.
“What we’re doing now is the best, the strongest, the fastest, the easiest, the least complicated.”
But says he “will have to use something else” if the supreme court rules against tariffs on Greenland.
“We have other alternatives.”
“We lave lots of meetings scheduled on Greenland. I think things will work out pretty well.”
Responding to a journalist’s question, he said “I think I get along very well with them [Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron] ... I like both of them, they’re both liberals.
“They have to straighten out their country.”
He said both Britain and France have two problems – immigration and energy.
When asked how far he was prepared to go to acquire Greenland, he said “you’ll find out”.
He says he likes Elon Musk’s electric vehicle brand Tesla, but had to get rid of the “insane” electric vehicle mandate.
“If you want electric, you can buy electric.”
He says more car business are being built in the US because of tariffs.
“We’ve never been stronger.”
“We’re doing so well because of tariffs.”
He claims to have done more for Nato than anybody else.
“We’ll come to their [Nato’s] rescue but I just really do question whether or not they’ll come to ours.”
He says he has “rebuilt the military”.
Trump has been speaking for almost one hour and has not stopped yet to take questions from journalists in the room.
He designated fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. He claims the US lost 3,000 people to fentanyl last year.
“DC is beautiful again ... the National Guard has been amazing.
“We have virtually no crime in DC.”
He also claims he brought crime down in Chicago and Minnesota.
“We inherited the worst border.”
“Lot of people are coming in legally.”
“One hundred per cent of net jobs created have gone to American born people. Before that we didn’t care.”
“Ninety-seven per cent down on drugs coming in by water – who the hell are the three per cent?”
He described California as a “disaster state.”
“In the last month, we had almost no inflation.
Regarding employment figures, Trump said he got rid of everyone “unnecessary, that’s how you make United States great again.”
“Democrats would never cut jobs.”
He claims under Biden, one in four jobs were in government sectors.
Under Trump, he said, 100 per cent of jobs came from the private sector.
“For the last eight months, no one came into our country illegally.”
“Nobody came in and we’re getting the murderers out.”
“We’re looking to get the criminals out now ... the murderers, the drug dealers, the mentally ill.”
He says “United States is booming” as thousands of business are being built.
“We inherited a mess, the numbers were way up and now we’ve brought them way down.”
“The past administration had no clue or they were really bad.”
Trump claims Ice and border police are largely made up of Hispanic people.
“I love Hispanic people,” he said.
He said Joe Biden was “the worst president” and that “he didn’t win the election” as it was “rigged.”
Trump takes to the podium.
He claims his presidency has done more than any other.
He starts the press conference by showing photos of mug shots of people who came from outside of the US and have committed crimes that Trump says, “sleepy Joe” and “crooked Joe” (Biden) “let into the country” under open borders.
He says that all Ice wants to do is get these people “out of our country” and they are allegedly met by “paid troublemakers.”
He also said “now I love Venezuela, they’ve been working with us so well.”
“The oil companies are getting ready to make massive investments. They have more oil there than Saudi Arabia.”
Watch the White House press conference live, which has not yet started.
It was said to be starting at 1pm (6pm Irish Time).
The statement that was circulated at the press briefing focuses on what the president has achieved in his first year as president in this term such as border security, claims the president has brought billions of dollars in from sweeping global tariffs, peace deals he has secured around the world and claims he has reduced crime, according to Sky News.
“365 wins in 365 days” are listed in a leaflet that was handed out to attendees of the press conference which is set to take place at the White House soon.
The press conference is being held to mark the end of his first year of his four-year term in office.
US president Donald Trump will speak in the White House briefing room at around 6pm (Irish time), to mark the first year of his second term in office, one year on from his inauguration.
Earlier Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt, had said on social media that a “very special guest” would be joining her at the podium, who was later announced to be Trump.
NATO ‘would have been in the ash heap of History’ Trump claims
Donald Trump has claimed that no-one - “no single person, or president” - has ever done more for the Nato military alliance than he has.
“If I didn’t come along, there would be no NATO right now!!!” he has posted on his Truth Social platform.
“It would have been in the ash heap of History. Sad, but TRUE!!!” he concluded
He is expected to appear at a White House briefing alongside press secretary Karoline Leavitt at 6pm Irish time.
Taoiseach asked about his St Patrick’s Day plans
“Are you going to stand up to the bully,” People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach in the Dáil.
Marie O’Halloran reports that he also raised the annual St Patrick’s week meeting with the US president.
“You’re not seriously going to go to the White House with shamrock this year and celebrate our national day with them,” he said.
Mr Boyd Barrett said Trump was “a bully, he’s an imperialist, and he is a threat to the world and to humanity”.
“He admits his strategy is imperialist” where “the US will assert political, economic and military power over the western hemisphere”.
He said the Government should “tell the US troops to get out of Shannon when they’re threatening the world in the way they are” and “saying we should spend more on militarisation”. He said Ireland should not “go down the road of militarisation and war mongering which he represents”.
Mr Boyd Barrett said it is “time to stand up to this bully and call him out for what he is”.
The Taoiseach did not refer to the St Patrick’s day White House visit but he told Mr Boyd Barrett Ireland’s national interest was to protect Irish workers. “Fundamentally we would behave accordingly to do that, to achieve that.”
He said “we’ve always had a very strong relationship of the US, irrespective of who the president happens to be or who’s in power on the Hill at any given time. And that has underpinned a very significant economic relationship which puts bread on the table of Irish workers.
“It’s the reality, and it’s easy for me to make grand statements, and for you and everybody else” but “it doesn’t put bread on the table. We need cool heads. We need to be calm about this. We need to be firm on principle.”
An agreement on sharing responsibility for the security of the Arctic and the North Atlantic could offer a way out of the stand-off between the United States and Europe over Greenland, Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda has suggested.
In an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, Nauseda 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.
‘Rules-based international order’ effectively dead Carney warns
Canada stands completely behind Greenland and Denmark, and the world’s middle powers must work together to resist coercion from aggressive superpowers, according to prime minister Mark Carney.
Greenland and Denmark have a “unique right to determine Greenland’s future,” Carney said in prepared text of remarks to be delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Recent events have shown the “rules-based international order” is effectively dead, Carney said, which means Canada and other countries have no choice but to create new alliances to oppose pressure tactics and intimidation by the world’s great powers.
Carney’s speech pushes back against Trump’s claims that the US must control Greenland, though his written text never mentions Trump or the US by name.
Faced with strong-arm tactics by larger nations, “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety,” Carney said. “It won’t.”
“Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” the prime minister told the summit.
In Davos, Carney called on world leaders and companies to start “naming reality.” He cited a famous essay from Czech dissident Václav Havel that described how the communist system sustained itself because people were willing to lie to each other, and to themselves, about its realities.
World leaders shouldn’t fall into that same trap when talking about the current geopolitical landscape, Carney said.
“Stop invoking the ‘rules-based international order’ as though it still functions as advertised,” Carney said. “Call the system what it is: a period where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as a weapon of coercion.”
He went on to say that “We should not allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity and rules will remain strong – if we choose to wield it together,” he said.
He listed Canada’s strategic advantages, including large reserves of conventional energy and critical minerals.
“Our pension funds are amongst the world’s largest and most sophisticated investors,” he said. “We have capital, talent and a government with the immense fiscal capacity to act decisively.” – Bloomberg
Greenland must prepare for invasion, PM says
Greenland’s prime minister said the Arctic island’s population and its authorities need to start preparing for a possible military invasion, even as it remains an unlikely scenario, as Trump continues to threaten taking over the territory.
“It’s not likely there will be a military conflict, but it can’t be ruled out,” prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said at a press conference in capital Nuuk this evening.
Greenland’s government will form a taskforce consisting of representatives of all relevant local authorities to help people prepare for any disruptions to daily life, Nielsen said. The government is working on distributing new guidelines to the population, including a recommendation to have enough food for five days stored in their homes.
Greenland is under “a lot of pressure” and “we need to be ready for all scenarios,” Mute B Egede, the island’s minister of finance and former leader, said at the same news conference.
‘Language is cheap here,” Martin says
In response to questioning from Cairns, the Martin’s said the EU was adopting a “principled, firm and robust stance in relation to the territorial integrity of Greenland, sovereignty, the Kingdom of Denmark, and adherence to the international rule of law”.
He added the EU had prepared various scenarios including the significant package of €93 billion in counter-tariffs but it would be better if it was resolved by dialogue.
“If the US wants to arbitrarily tear up an agreement or undermine an agreement that it entered into, I think it’s a matter for the US. But Europe should be very clear. We entered into an agreement. We want to honour agreements that we’ve entered into.”
A trade war would have very damaging consequences for job losses and across financial markets with a ripple effect on the economy, society and jobs as well, he said.
“So language is cheap here. We’ve got to be very clear eyed about what’s at stake, and it’s very serious, and it’s a grave moment in terms of the transatlantic relationship. And Europe will be strong and unified.”
He died not accept the analysis of Europe being all about flattery.
The Ukrainian situation was very dangerous. “I would argue that European leaders successfully created a scenario where additional supports were maintained for Ukraine,” by the US over the past year.
‘Trump is openly mocking the EU’
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns questioned Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s commitment to the ratification of the EU trade deal with the US, reports Marie O’Halloran.
The agreement includes 15 per cent tariffs on many EU goods exported to the US.
Ms Cairns said in the Dáil: “I don’t know how that’s a credible position when Trump is telling everyone he wants to rip that deal up and go even further by attacking the sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark. How can the EU ratify the deal in these circumstances?”
Any escalating trade war would be “hugely damaging” but it would not be avoided “by bowing to Trump’s bully tactics”.
“Trump is openly mocking the EU. He doesn’t take us seriously,” and “the strategy of flattering Trump has backfired”.
She said the EU needs a strong, “unified response, and that all options must be on the table”.
Greenland will not be abandoned Danish PM says
The Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has told local media that she will “not abandon Greenland”. She insisted that Denmark and Europe “have no other desire than to maintain” the transatlantic alliance but said she was “not naive” about the escalating rhetoric from the US on Greenland.
She said no decisions may be taken by EU leaders this week but said the focus would be on ensuring countries were ready for whatever happens next month when the tariffs kick in.
Calls for Ireland to stand firm against ‘creeping fascism’
The Labour leader Ivana Bacik has called for “State backed short time working scheme to protect families and households against potential shock” from any Trump slump, Marie O’Halloran writes.
The US president is “not content with tanking his own country’s economy” and his actions “now seem set on everyone else’s too”, she said in the Dáil.
Ms Bacik said that if the US “is threatening military action in Europe and using Shannon Airport with US planes, that’s a huge question for us”.
She said there must be a “robust response to Trump to stand up to what is really a sort of creeping fascism”.
Mr Trump “is ripping up the rule book” on international diplomacy, and after just a year in office “the uncertainty he’s causing is doing enormous damage”.
Pointing to the ongoing international tensions over Greenland and further tariffs she referred to his “territory grabs” and tariffs hits and “the real likelihood of a Trump Slump”.
She asked about the potential impact of such a slump on Ireland “and what we can do about it, because economic shocks do not just impact spreadsheets nationally, they hit kitchen cupboards, homes and communities across the country”.
“When Governments fail to prepare, ordinary people pay the price for failure” as claimed the Coalition had failed to diversify Ireland’s economic base.
Trump tariffs driving prices higher on Amazon
With all the talk of future tariffs, it might be worth looking at the impact the existing ones are having on consumers in the US.
Amazon.com is starting to see an uptick in product prices on its ecommerce platform as sellers respond to cost pressures stemming fromDonald Trump’s tariffs, the tech giant’s chief executive, Andy Jassy, told CNBC on Tuesday.
The company had urged its third-party sellers to bring in more stock ahead of time to circumvent tariff-driven surges in shipping costs, but “that supply has run out in the fall,” Jassy said in the interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“[We’re starting] to see some of the tariffs creep into some prices. Some sellers are deciding that they’re passing on those higher costs to consumers, some are deciding that they’ll absorb it to drive demand, and some are doing something in between. So you’re starting to see more of that impact,” Jassy said.
It’s the economy stupid
The state of the US economy has long focused the minds of politicians there and the markets do not appear to be loving the uncertainty caused by the latest crises.
Stocks, bonds and the dollar fell after Trump threatened tariffs on various European countries before high-level meetings in Davos amid a growing standoff over his ambitions to take over Greenland.
Gold hit all-time highs.
The geopolitical tensions drove the S&P 500 down 1.3 per cent, erasing its advance for 2026.
A gauge of equity volatility jumped to the highest since November. US yields hit an over four-month high, with investors also reacting to a sell-off in Japanese bonds and news that a Danish pension fund is planning to exit US Treasuries. The dollar saw its worst two-day stretch in about a month.
Bitcoin plunged.
While traders have been able to get past a whirlwind of other unexpected developments this year – including the White House’s capture of Venezuela’s leader and its renewed attacks on the Federal Reserve – the size of the moves suggests that investors’ willingness to shrug off earlier shocks is beginning to erode. – Reuters
Suspend trade deal in response to ‘blackmail’
France supports the suspension of a trade deal between the EU and US, its foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told parliament this afternoon in comments which are unlikely to defuse the row over the future of Greenland
“The threat of customs duties [is] being used as blackmail to obtain unjustifiable concessions”, Barrot said, adding the European Commission has “very powerful instruments” to respond to Trump’s threats.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee briefed her cabinet colleagues on the situation with Greenland.
She reiterated the Government’s stance that Greenland’s sovereignty is a matter for Greenland and Denmark.
Minister McEntee said: “The announcement by President Trump regarding Greenland, notably the decision to impose tariffs on six EU Member States, the UK and Norway, is completely unacceptable and deeply regrettable.
“Tariffs of this kind would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the EU-US trade agreement.
“The Government’s approach, and that of the EU, has been calm but firm in emphasising the need for dialogue and deescalation, as well as clear preparation for negative scenarios after 1 February.
“I will continue to coordinate closely with EU and wider European partners and will keep Government informed as the situation develops.”
Irish Times Economics correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports from Davos:
We cannot accept a world where the law of the strongest hold sway,” French president Emmanual Macron tells the World Economic Forum in Davos.He warned the world was being engulfed by “instability” and “imbalances” that would have security and economic repercussions.
Macron noted there were more than 60 wars in 2024, even though “I understand some of them were fixed”, perhaps a dig at US president Donald Trump’s claim to have ended several wars.
The French president is due to hold a sidebar meeting with Mr Trump when the latter arrives in Davos on Wednesday amid simmering EU-US tensions over Greenland.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has said he shares Denmarks’ view that Greenland’s sovereignty is non-negotiable.
“That’s why I think the words of President von der Leyen today about taking a united and proportionate approach where there’s full solidarity within the EU is critical here,” he told RTÉ radio’s News at One.
“The fact that President Trump is potentially going to escalate a serious deterioration in relations between the EU and the US only feeds into other countries that want to see the Atlantic unity divided and that’s why Ireland wants to see respectful engagement, constructive dialogue and de-escalation on the basis of respect for territorial integrity.
“There’s been strong unity of purpose across the European Union with Denmark with Greenland and that is Ireland’s position and you know the EU has an ability escalate if that’s what occurs from a trade perspective and we need to have respect for the European Union and its function in the context of the world and the European union has to stand up for its own principles in terms of international law, democratic principles and territorial integrity which are critical to a functioning world overall and the deterioration around that is really worrying.”
When asked about a Labour party proposal that if Donald Trump acts on his threats that the Irish government should ban US military aircraft from landing at Shannon airport, Mr Chambers responded: “what we’ve said is we want to de-escalate matters. We respect and value our relationship with the US, and that’s why constructive dialogue is critical on all elements of our engagement, whether it’s through trade, whether it is through Shannon Airport or other matters. And what we’re prioritising right now is forming a common European position in the context of what’s escalating.”
Irish Times Europe Correspondent Jack Power reports from Brussels:
An emergency summit of the EU’s 27 leaders in Brussels on Thursday may not be the last time the heads of government and state are convened at short notice in the next fortnight or so.
At the moment there is a lot of talk about the EU reaching for its “big bazooka”, the anti-coercion instrument, to retaliate against Mr Trump’s threats of new tariffs if Greenland isn’t handed over to the US.
The instrument would give the EU wide ranging freedom to restrict US companies’ ability to operate in the European market. That could include special tariffs on tech giants and other industries, import and export restrictions, and barring bids on public contracts.
Ireland would be caught squarely in the middle of such a move, given the dependence of the State’s finances on US tech and pharma firms based in the Republic.
French president Emmanuel Macron is pushing for the EU to trigger the anti-coercion instrument, something most see as the nuclear option.
Discussions between diplomats in Brussels since the weekend indicate a required majority of national governments do not favour using the trade bazooka, yet.
There is a feeling that could change, depending on the outcome of efforts to talk Trump down.
Offers to spend more money and reallocate military resources to Greenland, to shore up the security of the Arctic region, will feature as part of the EU’s attempt to avert a conflict.
Trump has promised to levy an additional 10 per cent tariff on trade from several European countries on February 1st, rising to 25 per cent in June, if his ambitions to own Greenland are blocked.
For some context, that higher tariff rate on imports into the US would make most trade across the Atlantic unviable.
EU officials are conscious of the need to keep some of their powder dry, in what could become an escalating standoff. Any initial EU retaliation would certainly be met with threats of even higher US tariffs from Trump.
It seems most likely a package of EU counter tariffs on €93 billion worth of US trade will be the first volley, in the event talks between European leaders and Mr Trump don’t succeed.
The German government, the EU’s other major power beside France, believes the ACI should be kept in reserve, to deploy as a last resort.
The hashtag #25thamendment is trending on X at the moment. This refers to the 25th amendment of the US Constitution which was passed in 1967 and relates to the presidential succession if a sitting president dies in office, is incapacitated or is forcibly removed.
The option to remove the president has never been used, but Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before he could be impeached and removed from office.
The relevant clause in the 25th amendment is as follows and worth quoting in full.
“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”
In other words, if the vice-president and a majority of the president’s cabinet OR a majority of both Houses of Congress decide that the president is unfit for office, the vice-president will take temporary charge.
Congress must then decide within 21 days whether or not to remove the president, but it will need a two-thirds majority of both houses for the president to be finally removed.
It’s a very high bar.
Don’t mention the wars, trade ones or otherwise, would seem to have been the attitude of House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson.
Johnson gave a historic speech in the House of Commons to mark 250 years of the Declaration of Independence.
Then the Americans fought the British for independence, but Johnson struck a more emollient tone.
He never mentioned Greenland, the 10 per cent tariffs threatened on the UK and seven other European countries, nor President Donald Trump’s comments that the UK decision to relinquish control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in return for a 99 year lease on a military base on Diego Garcia. President Trump called the UK decision “stupid” though his administration approved the deal last February.
Mr Johnson said he had come to “calm the waters” between the United States and Europe.
Johnson spoke instead of the “special relationship” between the US and its erstwhile colonial masters.
He told them, “We have always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do that. I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case.”
He said he had spoken to Trump and informed him that “my mission here today was to encourage our friends and help to calm the waters, so to speak, and I hope to do so.”
Remember Kellyanne Conway? She was President Donald Trump’s campaign manager in 2016 and one of his chief officials in the first Trump administration.
She was married to George Conway until 2023 and he is one of the fiercest critics of Trump within the Republican Party. He has since joined the Democrats and is standing in the New York 12th Congressional District.
He wrote this piece in 2019 about Trump’s mental fragility for the Atlantic magazine and reposted it following the US president’s letter to the Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre. You can read it here.
Stock markets have weakened in response to Trump’s threats on Greenland and fears of a trade war, writes Cliff Taylor.
So far, moves have been limited enough, except for the continued rise in the price of gold, now up 8 per cent since the start of the year to new record highs and a hefty 70 per cent higher since Trump took office.
In times of uncertainty, gold tends to win out. Today, share prices are weaker again in Europe, though many investors are taking a wait-and-see approach.
A key thing to watch is whether there is a drift away from US assets. Weakness in the price of the dollar and US government bonds have been evident in recent days. Trump’s unpredictable policies may lead investors to diversify away from US investments. And his drive to take more control of the US Federal Reserve Board – and thus US interest rates – will worry those investing in US assets, who will fear higher inflation and dollar weakness.
This is the key trend to watch in the days ahead. Talk that Europe could in some way increase pressure on Trump by selling down US assets – and particularly government bonds – seem far-fetched, given that most of these are held by the private sector. But a drift away from US assets by big investors is conceivable – as is some wider upheaval in the markets as this plays out.
Threat of tariffs would rip up EU-US trade deal struck last year, says Helen McEntee
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has said Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs on eight EU countries was “deeply regrettable” and would “rip up” an EU-US trade deal struck last year.
McEntee said it was clear support for Greenland and Denmark was “absolute”.
She said if the threatened tariffs were introduced, €93 billion worth of counter tariffs would be “back on the table” as the EU needed to “respond strongly”.
“What’s really important is that, first and foremost, we engage in dialogue with the US, and that will intensify our efforts over the next number of days,” she said.
“But it is also important to have a number of possible options to respond should these threats actually come to the fore in the next two weeks. Of course, a threat of tariffs on eight member states is essentially a threat of tariffs on all member states and it would be hugely regrettable for last year’s deal between the US and the EU to essentially be ripped up.”
McEntee added: “It is really apparent that the president is trying to use tariffs to change that approach but that’s not something that… [will change] the overall resolve of Europe in support for Greenland. It is utterly regrettable that a president of the US would say that they’re not focused on peace, but we need to engage, we need to use our voice, as we always have in Ireland, to try and bring reason and to try and bring calm to the current situation.”
Ursula von der Leyen makes case for Europe’s ‘independence’ at Davos
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has called for Europe to assert its independence, in response to the “seismic” changes to the global order taking place, writes Europe correspondent Jack Power.
The EU’s response to Trump’s recent threats would be “unflinching, united and proportional”, the head of the union’s powerful executive body said.
In a closely watched speech at Davos, von der Leyen said the sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark was “non-negotiable”.
Plunging Europe and the US into a “dangerous downward spiral” would only help the adversaries of both traditionally close allies, the German politician said.
Trump’s proposed new tariffs on European countries of 10 per cent, rising to 25 per cent, until Greenland was “sold” to America, were a “mistake”, von der Leyen said.
The new tariffs would rip up a deal struck last July, where EU states reluctantly agreed to stomach 15 per cent import duties on future US trade. “In politics as in business, a deal is a deal and when friends shake hands, it must mean something,” von der Leyen said, a thinly veiled criticism of Trump’s latest threats.
“Europe must speed up its push for independence – from security to economy, from defence to democracy. The point is that the world has changed permanently. We need to change with it,” von der Leyen said.
Recent agreement on the EU-Mercosur deal shows the 27-state union was choosing “fair trade over tariffs”, she said. Commission negotiators were working to finalise another major trade deal with India, which von der Leyen said had been described as “the mother of all deals”.
‘Act of great stupidity’: Trump takes aim at Starmer over Chagos Islands handover
Donald Trump has also lashed out at British prime minister Keir Starmer over the “act of great stupidity” in giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, which include the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.
The US president said handing the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius was a sign of “total weakness” by the UK.
The UK government has agreed to hand over the islands but will pay billions of pounds to lease back the strategically important Diego Garcia base.
Ministers have claimed the deal is necessary because international court rulings in favour of Mauritian claims to sovereignty had threatened the future of the base.
In the attack on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said: “Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.
“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”
He highlighted the decision as a reason for his continued pursuit of Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
“The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”
Harris urges de-escalation of ‘extraordinarily dangerous economic situation’
Tánaiste Simon Harris has said it is important that “intensive diplomatic efforts” happen to try to de-escalate an “extraordinarily dangerous economic situation”.
Speaking on his way into the Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels, the Minister for Finance said when it comes to the EU-US relationship, “there is not an hour to spare”.
“It’s absolutely important that intensive diplomatic efforts are put under way to try and de-escalate an extraordinarily dangerous economic situation,” he said.
“We all know that tariffs are bad for the Irish economy. They’re bad for the European economy. They’re bad for the US economy as well. But this is now deeper than that, also.
“This has the potential to cause a spiral of destabilising actions that could have dire consequences.
“So cool heads must prevail, and there is not a moment to lose and the next number of days will be crucial as Europe works to try and stabilise this situation and find a way forward.
“Because we are always stronger the EU and the US when we co-operate, when we collaborate.”
US president Donald Trump posted this on his Truth Social social media page earlier this morning.
Macron invites Trump to Paris for talks, texts show
French president Emmanuel Macron is seeking to arrange an emergency G7 meeting in Paris, involving Trump, a private message between the two leaders shows, Europe correspondent Jack Power writes.
In a text message to Mr Trump, Mr Macron said:
“I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland”.
Mr Macron offered to arrange a meeting of G7 powers, which includes the US, in Paris on Thursday, followed by a dinner between the French and US leaders.
“Let us have a dinner together in Paris together on Thursday before you go back to the us,” he wrote.
A screenshot of the full message was posted on Truth Social by Mr Trump this morning. A source in the Élysée confirmed to The Irish Times that the text was genuine.
“We are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland. Let us try to build great things,” it said.
Mr Macron proposed inviting the Ukrainians, Danish, new Syrian government, and Russia to Paris for the talks on the margins of the proposed meeting.
The texts give a glimpse into European leaders’ efforts to engage Mr Trump, in a bid to encourage him to walk back his demands to buy or seize Greenland and hit European allies with more trade tariffs.
The Maga faith has not been shaken through what has been a disorienting year, Washington correspondent Keith Duggan writes.
Trump has, at 79, transformed the White House into a volatile and unknowable force of change and whimsy.
Read his full piece here.
European leaders are hoping to prevent a trade war breaking out with the United States over Greenland, but are preparing contingency plans to push back on Donald Trump’s “blackmail” attempts, should high-stakes attempts to defuse tensions this week fail.
Efforts to engage the White House are being stepped up and several EU leaders are expected to discuss the crisis in transatlantic relations with Mr Trump in Davos this week on the margins of the World Economic Forum.
It is understood top officials close to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen have been in contact with senior figures in the Trump administration, including Jared Kushner, to sound out the US president’s intentions.
Read our lead story this morning here.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Cowen has said Donald Trump, JD Vance and “radical” elements of their administration “do not speak for the American people”, Europe correspondent Jack Power writes.
In a speech to the European Parliament last night, the former agriculture minister said the US was breaking away from an international order it had helped to build and defend for decades.
“I can’t help but wonder, where are the voices in the US Congress who not so long ago stood for partnership and international law? Their silence is being heard across Europe,” he told MEPs.
“All in all, this is not simply a trade dispute. It is a test. A test of whether law still matters, whether alliances still matter and whether Europe is prepared to defend them,” he said.
Good morning. US president Donald Trump has said he will impose a 200 per cent tariff on French wines and champagnes, a move he claimed would push French president Emmanuel Macron to join Trump’s Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts.
When asked by a reporter about Mr Macron saying he will not join the board, Trump said: “Did he say that? Well, nobody wants him because he will be out of office very soon.
“I’ll put a 200 per cent tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join, but he doesn’t have to join,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Trump originally proposed establishing the board of peace when he announced last September his plan to end the war in Gaza. However an invitation sent to world leaders last week outlines a broad role ending conflicts globally.
Mr Trump has also said that he thought European leaders would not “push back too much” on his attempt to buy Greenland.
“I don’t think they’re gonna push back too much. We have to have it. They have to have this done,” he told reporters on Monday.
The US president has said that he had a “very good” telephone call with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte concerning Greenland.
Mr Trump also said he had agreed to a meeting of various parties at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Follow irishtimes.com for updates throughout the day.
