The last purchase of Danish land by the US included the Caribbean island later bought by Jeffrey Epstein, the paedophile financier. That these topics have, coincidentally, dominated Trump’s presidency recently has been noted by online commentators.
Under the 1917 Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the US paid $25 million for the islands, islets and surrounding territory now known as the US Virgin Islands — a deal secured after the US dropped its opposition to Denmark’s control of Greenland.
The islands purchased under the treaty included Little St James, which Epstein later owned as a private island from 1998 until his death in 2019.
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UK ‘prepared to protect Arctic security’
Sir Keir Starmer reiterated that the UK was prepared to “play its part to protect Arctic security alongside Nato” in a call with Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, Downing Street said.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “Discussing events of recent days, he reiterated his position that the future of Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark alone.
“He reiterated that the UK is prepared to play its part to protect Arctic security, alongside Nato. They agreed on the fundamental importance of continued defence and security co-operation in these volatile times.”
‘We’ll work something out with Nato’
Trump was asked if the break-up of Nato was a price he was willing to pay for his determination to take control of Greenland. He suggested he could “work something out” with the alliance.
“I think something’s going to happen that’s going to be very good for everybody,” he said. “Nobody’s done more for Nato than I have. As I said before, in every way, getting them to go up to 5 per cent of GDP was something that nobody thought was… and pay, at 2 per cent they weren’t paying; at 5 per cent they are paying.”
He said, apparently referring to European alliance members: “And they’re buying a lot of things from us, and they’re giving them I guess to Ukraine, that’s up to them but they’re giving them to whoever they’re giving them to, but they’re buying a lot.
“I think that we will work something out but Nato is going to be very happy and where we’re going to be very happy. But we need it for security purposes, we need it for national security and even world security. It is very important.”
Nato is ‘sometimes overrated’
Trump has said Nato is “sometimes overrated” and said the alliance would be “not very strong” without the US.
Was he committed to keeping the US in Nato? Trump said he did not agree with “a lot of the things they’ve done” but said “that was done before I got there”.
“Sometimes it’s overrated, sometimes it’s not,” he said. “If Nato doesn’t have us, Nato is not very strong.”
The president’s news conference has ended. He spoke for more than an hour and a half in front of a White House press room packed with reporters.
‘Macron’s not going to be there very long’
Trump said he had “a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland” and that he expected the situation “to work out pretty well actually”.
He confirmed that he would not attend the emergency summit in Paris, convened by President Macron after Davos, and suggested that that was because of Macron.
“Because you know, Emmanuel is not going to be there very long and there’s no longevity there. He’s a friend of mine — he’s a nice guy, I like Macron — but he’s not going to be there very much longer as you know and I have meetings with the people that are directly involved.”
Diplomatic pressure ‘saved 837 Iranians’
Trump said Iran had cancelled plans to hang more than 800 protesters last week after the US threatened to intervene.
He did not rule out military action in Iran and said: “We’re just going to see what happens. They were going to hang I think 837 people. And they didn’t hang anybody. So we’re just going to have to see what happens with Iran. There’s the military option.”
‘UK should keep Chagos Islands’
Trump has said he is “against” Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and said the UK “should keep it”.
He said: “When they originally were going to do it, they were talking about doing some concept of ownership. But now they’re looking to essentially just do a lease and sell it.”
“I’m against that. It’s nothing like Greenland. But it’s reasonably important area of the globe. Not anywhere near Greenland. But I think they should keep it. I don’t know why they’re doing [it]. Do they need money?”
Trump appeared to believe that Britain was selling the archipelago to Mauritius. In fact the UK will surrender sovereignty to its former colony and pay Mauritius up to £34 billion over the next 100 years to lease back the islands.
How far will Trump go for Greenland?
How far was Trump prepared to go to acquire Greenland? “You’ll find out,” he said.
He was asked about his proposed Board of Peace for Gaza. Could it undermine the UN? Trump said: “I believe you’ve got to let the UN continue.”
‘A lot of problems’ in London and Paris
Trump is taking questions from reporters, saying he “gets along” Sir Keir Starmer and President Macron, but they have to “straighten out their countries”. London and Paris had a “lot of problems”, he said.
Trump had attacked both leaders in an overnight outburst on Truth Social. “I think I get along very well with them,” he said. “They get a little bit rough when I ’m not around.”
He urged the UK to drill for oil in the North Sea, calling it an “unbelievable asset” and to lower immigration.
Board of Peace could harm the UN
Trump said the United Nations “could do more” and suggested his Board of Peace was necessary to address its shortcomings.
Officials in many countries are concerned that Trump’s Board of Peace, which will focus first on Gaza but will later be expanded to deal with other conflicts, could harm the work of the UN.
“The United Nations could do more. I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace, but the United Nations…” Trump said.
Listing several conflicts that he has claimed to have ended or prevented, he added: “And, you know, with all the wars I settled, the United Nations never helped me in one war.”
‘I question whether Nato would come to our rescue’
Trump suggests Nato countries would not defend the US in the event of an attack. “I’ve done more for Nato than anybody,” he said. “Nato has to treat us fairly too. The big fear I have with Nato is we spend tremendous amounts of money with Nato.”
“I know we’ll come to their rescue. But I really do question whether or not they’ll come to ours.”
Article 5, Nato’s mutual defence clause, was activated for the first and only time in the alliance’s history in support of the United States, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
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Norway ‘lost prestige’ over peace prize snub
Trump says Norway has “lost prestige” because it failed to award him the Nobel peace prize.
He complained about the Nobel committee’s decision to give it to Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that Norway doesn’t control the shots,” he said. “It’s in Norway, Norway controls the shots. They’ll say ‘we have nothing to do with it’. It’s a joke. They’ve lost such prestige.”
National Guard has crime ‘almost down to nothing’
Trump said that crime in Washington was “almost down to nothing” as he celebrated the deployment of the National Guard to the city.
“Your lover’s not going to be killed anymore, so you can act like a real lover,” Trump said.
Data shows that crime is falling in Washington. Homicides fell by 32 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year. However, there were five homicides in December alone.
New operations to target drug smugglers
Trump said his administration would “very shortly” start targeting drugs coming into the United States by land. He claimed strikes by US forces on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean had reduced the amount of drugs coming into the US by sea.
Almost as an aside, after mentioning the Tren de Aragua crime syndicate from Venezuela, he added: “We are starting to do that on land.” He did not specify which country those drugs were coming from.
Possible role for Venezuelan opposition leader
Trump said he was considering involving Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, in running her own country, but did not say what role she could play.
“We’re talking to her and maybe we can get her involved some way. I’d love to be able to do that; Maria, maybe we can do that,” he said. Machado met Trump last week and gave him her Nobel peace prize medal.
Trumps comments marked a change in tone: he had questioned Machado’s popularity and ability to lead in Venezuela after US commandos captured Nicolás Maduro in a raid earlier this month. But the president then said he was working with the interim government in Caracas, led by Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s deputy and Machado’s rival.
“I felt so strongly against Venezuela, now I’m loving Venezuela,” he said. “They’ve been working with us so well. It’s been so nice.”
‘Gulf of Trump has a nice ring to it’
The US president joked at one point that the Gulf of Mexico should have been renamed the “Gulf of Trump”. He has already rebranded the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” on official maps.
However, the president said the Gulf of Trump also had a “nice ring to it”. “I was going to call it the Gulf of Trump,” he said, then clarified: “I was not going to call it the Gulf of Trump”.
Frustration on US economy
Trump expressed frustration that his message on the economy was “not getting across”.
“The numbers that we inherited were way up, and now we brought them, almost all of them, way down,” Trump said, although inflation has crept up during his second term.
“Maybe I have the bad public relations people, but we’re not getting it across.”
Parents of ICE victim were ‘huge Trump fans’
Trump has claimed the parents of Renee Nicole Good, the woman shot dead by ICE immigration officers in Minnesota, were “huge Trump fans”.
“Her father, her parents were tremendous Trump supporters. I hope they still are,” he said. He called the shooting a “tragedy”, saying that even ICE considered it as such.
Trump also called protesters who have campaigned against the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis “paid agitators”.
“When she [Good] was shot, there was another woman shouting ‘shame’. She was a professional. A professional woman who wants to see our country do badly,” Trump claimed.
Trump defends tariff ‘emergency’
The US president gave a meandering defence of his declaration of an economic emergency in order to impose tariffs, saying the law was clear to him but he did not know how the Supreme Court would rule in a pending case that challenges the legality of his decision.
Trump said the government could restrict trade by requiring licences and that tariffs could be less severe. But he stressed: “I don’t know what the Supreme Court’s going to do.
“If we lose that case, it’s possible we’re going to have to do the best we can in paying it back. I don’t know how that’s going to be done very easily without hurting a lot of people.”
Trump: It’d take a week to list my achievements
Trump said it would take more than “a week” to list his accomplishments. Entering the briefing room with a thick stack of papers, he said that he had in his first year back in the White House “done more than any other administration has done by far”.
“It’s been an amazing period of time,” Trump said, thumbing through the pages.
He addressed reporters alone from the podium, Karoline Leavitt, his press secretary, standing off to his right. He held up photographs of people arrested Minnesota, each bearing the headline “Minnesota worst of the worst” and at one point asked reporters: “You’re not getting bored with this, right?”
Trump focuses on Minnesota ICE arrests 
President Trump starts his press conference by claiming his administration is arresting “criminals” and “illegal aliens” in Minnesota. There have been large anti-ICE demonstrations in Minneapolis since the shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year old protester.
Trump held up pictures of those arrested, saying they included “murderers and drug dealers”.
Trump speaks at White House
President Trump has just appeared at the White House lectern, more than 40 minutes behind schedule. Before the briefing, White House aides handed out a document listing “365 wins in 365 days” to mark the anniversary of his inauguration.
President Trump arrives for his press briefing
KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES
US-Russia talks in Davos ‘very positive’
Steve Witkoff, the US envoy, said that talks with his Kremlin counterpart Kirill Dmitriev in Davos had been “very positive”, according to RIA, Russia’s state news agency.
Witkoff, with Jared Kushner, met Dmitriev on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Russian envoy enters Davos ‘USA House’
US and Russian envoys have been seen entering the “USA House” at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, were seen entering the 19th-century Alpine church which has been draped with American banners. A source said Kirill Dmitriev, President Putin’s envoy, had also entered.
The envoys have met previously to discuss a potential peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. So far there has been no agreement on terms that would be acceptable to both Moscow and Kyiv.
Watch: Reeves urges White House to work with allies
The chancellor speaks on a panel at Davos
Belarusian dictator joins Board of Peace
Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator, said on Tuesday that he had joined President Trump’s Board of Peace, which will temporarily oversee the running of Gaza and manage its reconstruction.
A video posted by the Belarusian government showed Lukashenko signing the document in front of a map of the world. Joining the Board of Peace is a sign of his growing rapprochement with Washington. Lukashenko has released a number of high-profile political prisoners since last year, when he hosted Trump’s envoys for talks in Minsk.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994, is the Kremlin’s biggest ally in Europe and has allowed Russia to use his country for attacks on Ukraine.
The exiled Belarusian opposition has not commented directly on Trump’s invitation to Lukashenko. However, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to flee Belarus in 2020 after huge protests against vote fraud, said that Lukashenko and other dictators “only understand the language of strength”.
Tusk: Appeasement means only humiliation
Appeasement is always a sign of weakness and Europe cannot afford to be weak, against either its enemies or allies, Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, has posted on X, without naming any specific countries.
“Appeasement means no results, only humiliation. European assertiveness and self-confidence have become the need of the moment,” he said.
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Jeremy Hunt said it was vital for there to be “credible plans” for increasing defence provision across Europe to avoid the continent being seen as “weak” by President Trump.
“At the moment, frankly, it’s all talk when it comes to European defence plans, not just the UK, by the way. Germany, France, exactly the same issue. And that’s why in Trump’s eyes, we are basically weak,” he told Times Radio.
The former chancellor called for a UK plan for increasing defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, increasing the size of the army and modernising technology.
‘Midterms fear driving Trump’s agenda’
A friend of President Trump said fear of losing control of Congress in the midterms was driving much of the president’s agenda.
Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax, told Times Radio: “Key to a lot of what’s going on now is that the president knows the chances of that switch happening. His hands will be full. There will probably be an impeachment. Everybody thinks that’s coming once the Democrats take power.
“So anything he wants to get done, and his ability to get things through, becomes much more difficult. And the Senate will probably be tighter. It’ll just be very difficult for him to get things done so there is a race now to this midterm.”
Trump news conference at 6pm
President Donald Trump will hold a press conference, hours before he is due to leave Washington for the Davos summit in Switzerland, the White House says.
Trump is scheduled to appear at a regularly scheduled press briefing at 6pm. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, was due to take questions but an hour before it was due to start, she revealed that Trump himself planned to attend.
War can’t be ruled out, says Greenland PM
Greenland’s people and authorities need to prepare for the possibility of military invasion in the face of President Trump’s threats, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the prime minister, has told a press conference in Nuuk, the capital.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen at a demonstration against Trump’s plans on Saturday in Nuuk
ALLESSANDRO RAMPAZZO/AFP/GETTY
“It’s not likely there will be a military conflict, but it can’t be ruled out,” he said. A task force drawn from relevant local authorities was being assembled to help people prepare for disruptions to daily life, he added.
Mute B Egede, Greenland’s finance minister and former leader, said the island was under “a lot of pressure” and “we need to be ready for all scenarios”.
Greenland’s 57,000-strong population will soon be advised by the government to store five days’ worth of food at home. Greenland is a semi-autonomous Danish territory.
‘Shared responsibility offers end to stand-off’
An agreement on sharing responsibility for the security of the Arctic and the North Atlantic could defuse the stand-off between the US and Europe over Greenland, President Nauseda of Lithuania said.
The Greenland row was overshadowing the war in Ukraine and playing into Russia’s hands, he said, urging Washington to de-escalate the dispute.
Nauseda, who is at Davos, said: “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.”
Trump’s Chagos attack is ‘sign of frustration’
Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed President Trump’s attack on the government’s Chagos Islands deal, saying the US leader’s comments were a sign of “frustration” after being thwarted in his move to take over Greenland.
Downing Street said Starmer was not “embarrassed or humiliated” over the Chagos deal and pointedly made clear that Trump had previously backed the plan.
“What we saw last night was a series of posts criticising a number of world leaders that may tell us that the president is frustrated (about Greenland) right now,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said. “The best way to resolve that is through dialogue with the Danish government and that’s what we’ve said all along.”
Nato would be in ‘ash heap of history’ without Trump
President Trump has claimed that no one has done more for Nato than him.
In a post on Truth Social, he said: “No single person, or President, has done more for NATO than President Donald J. Trump. 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!!!”
Russian website talks of Nato’s demise
Earlier, Russia in Global Affairs, a website close to the Kremlin, said the Greenland row could spell the end of Nato.
“[The alliance] turns 77 this spring. This is a respectable age for an international organisation, but modest by historical standards. Experience teaches us that structures that last forever simply don’t exist,” it wrote.
Sweden counts the cost of rising tariffs
Swedish exports to the United States could fall by as much as 28 per cent if President Trump carries out his threat to impose additional tariffs and some industrial sectors could decline by 50 per cent, the country’s Board of Trade claims.
Trump has said tariffs on eight European nations would start at 10 per cent on February 1, rising to 25 per cent on June 1, and would continue until a deal was reached allowing the US to purchase Greenland.
Under existing tariffs, agreed between the EU and the US last year, exports to America are expected to fall by 6 per cent in the next three to five years, the Board of Trade estimates. A further 10 per cent tariff would lead total exports to the US to drop by 16 per cent, and a 25 per cent tariff would cause exports to fall by 28 per cent.
Iron and steel exports could fall by 25 per cent under existing tariffs, dropping by 45 per cent should the top level be implemented. Exports of electronics could fall by 50 per cent.
The United States accounted for 9 per cent, or 186.5 billion Swedish crowns ($20.4 billion) of Swedish exports in 2024, making it Sweden’s third biggest market after Germany and Norway.
No Trump at emergency G7 summit
President Trump is not planning to attend the emergency G7 summit in Paris this week, the White House says.
President Macron suggested that the US president join the seven-way summit in a private text message which Trump has since published.
However on Tuesday a White House official said this was not part of his schedule. “President Trump has no plans to travel to Paris at this time,” the official told CBS News.
Starmer ‘will always act in our national interest’
Sir Keir Starmer “will always act in our national interest”, the foreign secretary has said. Yvette Cooper told the Commons that the prime minister was “pursuing Britain’s security, prosperity and values”, which was why he was “so firm” with President Trump over UK support for Denmark and Greenland.
That was also why the UK was working with its allies to respond in a “strong and firm way” that would prevent a damaging trade war, she said, focusing instead on “collective partnership on security”.
Cooper said her visits to Norway and Finland last week were to “increase support for security across the Arctic region”.
‘EU won’t blow up trade deal by retaliating’
Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, has dismissed the threat of retaliatory tariffs from Europe. The EU would not want to “blow up” the deal between President Trump and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, reached at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland last year. It exempted pharmaceuticals from tariffs and reduced levies on some cars.
“I don’t see that happening. I see diplomacy, talking and at the table, rather than action, that is what the president cares about,” Lutnick said, adding that the trade tensions would end in a reasonable result.
The White House has said an additional 10 per cent tariff, rising to 25 per cent, will be applied to eight countries including the UK from February 1, unless they support the US annexation of Greenland.
Mauritius asserts sovereignty over Chagos Islands
Mauritius said its sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago had been unequivocally recognised under international law, responding to President Trump’s social media post criticising Britain’s deal to cede the islands.
“The sovereignty of the Republic of Mauritius over the Chagos archipelago … should no longer be subject to debate. We expect the implementation of the treaty (deal with Britain) within the shortest possible time frames, in accordance with the commitments undertaken,” Gavin Glover, the Mauritius attorney general, said.
Keep a cool head, says Reeves
Rachel Reeves has told Bloomberg TV: “I would just urge people to keep cool heads. That’s what we did all through last year and it actually served us pretty well.
“And whilst trade barriers are going up around the world at the moment, we can all see that, I think last year barriers to trade with the UK have fallen.”
‘Rest of the world should also put America first’
Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, has said the rest of the world should also put America first and will “shine” with American prosperity.
“When America shines, the rest of the world shines. Greenland and the western hemisphere are vital to America,” he said, speaking on a panel at Davos with Rachel Reeves and François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s finance minister.
Reeves: America needs its allies
Rachel Reeves has told Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, that America cannot go it alone and needs its allies for imports of critical minerals and for its security.
Rachel Reeves speaks on a panel with Howard Lutnick
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
On a panel with Lutnick at the World Economic Forum, the chancellor said a world without a strong US would be “scarier and poorer” and urged him to co-operate with America’s Western allies in the wake of threats to Greenland.
“A country as big and strong as America also relies on its allies. The US has lots of allies. We need to think about where the threats are and who our friends are. The US doesn’t have all the critical minerals you need. More than 90 per cent comes from China and you need to wean yourself off it. You can’t do that without Canada and Australia,” Reeves said.
“For all of your [America’s] strength, we also need to preserve the things the US has benefited from in Nato and the Western alliance, not because it is benevolent or the right thing to do but because it is in your national interest.”
Tariffs ‘appropriate in a geopolitical context’
President Trump’s threat of tariffs on goods from countries opposing his demand for control of Greenland was appropriate in a geopolitical context and may be aimed at prompting negotiations, Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
There was “a long history of using tools that are at the nexus of economics and national security in the United States,” including export controls, sanctions and tariffs, he said.
Asked whether Trump wanted negotiations over Greenland, Greer said: “That’s possible, something he’s talked about. I think he’s very clear on what he expects.”
Belgian PM: Trump can make us slaves
Bart De Wever, Belgium’s prime minister, who has been supplying quotes seemingly all day, has just told Europe to “wake up” and realise America’s priorities have changed.
“We need our own technological platforms to build the prosperity of tomorrow,” he told the Forum in Davos. “If not, Trump … he can make us slaves, because we actually are slaves then, and we will have to take for granted whatever he does.
“We’ve been accustomed to very nice presidents like Obama, and we haven’t noticed that the shift in America is not bound to one presidency. It’s a structural shift. The face of America has turned to the Pacific. Their backside is turned to the Atlantic, and that will not change after Trump.”
Don’t retaliate, Bessent tells European allies
Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, has told European allies to not retaliate on tariffs and to “have an open mind” when President Trump arrives in Davos.
Bessent, who is already there, said: “Take a deep breath. Do not retaliate. Do not retaliate. The president will be here tomorrow, and he will get his message across. I believe he is going to have meetings and again, also have an open mind.”
Danish pension fund sells off US Treasuries
Danish pension fund AkademikerPension has said it would sell off its holding of US Treasuries, worth some $100 million, by the end of this month, blaming weak US government finances.
AkademikerPension said the decision was not intended as a political statement linked to the rift between Denmark and the United States over Greenland.
“We need to make an effort to find an alternative way of conducting our liquidity and risk management,” investment director Anders Schelde said in a written statement.
“Thus, it is not directly related to the ongoing rift between the US and Europe, but of course that didn’t make it more difficult to take the decision.”
EU ice-breaker vessels could boost Arctic security
Ursula von der Leyen in Davos on Tuesday
LAURENT GILLIERON/EPA
The EU could invest more in ice-breaking naval vessels as part of efforts to boost defence in the Arctic region, the European Commission president has said.
Ursula von der Leyen said it could form part of the bloc’s €800 billion rearmament plans, according to Reuters.
She told delegates at the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos: “I believe we should use our defence spending surge on a European ice-breaker capability and other equipment vital to Arctic security.”
The EC president added that “Europe is preparing its own security strategy, which we plan to publish later this year”.
Europe ‘will hold its ground’ over Greenland
The European Union’s top diplomat has compared America and its attempts to annex Greenland to Russia and Ukraine, saying no country has the right to take over another.
“Greenland belongs to its people. No threat or tariffs will change that. Sovereignty is not for trade,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, told the European parliament.
“No country has the right to take over territory of another, not in Ukraine, not in Greenland.”
She added: “We have no interest in picking a fight, but we will hold our ground. Europe has a slate of tools to protect its interests.”
No 10 claims US still supports Chagos deal
Downing Street insisted the US still supported the deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius despite President Trump calling it an “act of great stupidity”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Our position hasn’t changed on Diego Garcia or the treaty that has been signed.
“The US supports the deal and the president explicitly recognised its strength last year. All our Five Eyes allies support it too and they all understand the national security capabilities the base provides.”
Macron denounces US ‘colonialism’
France has joined the troop deployment in Greenland not to “threaten” the US but to support Denmark, President Macron has said, as he warned against Europe accepting the new US “colonialism”.
Macron told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos: “We have decided to join the exercise in Greenland without threatening anyone but supporting an ally and a European country in Denmark.”
Denmark has sent a bolstered troop presence to Greenland this week. The French president has messaged President Trump about meeting with the G7 to talk about the future of Greenland, in texts that were leaked by Trump on Truth Social.
Macron said Europe could not “passively accept the law of the strongest, leading to vassalisation and bloc politics. Accepting the new colonial approach doesn’t make sense.”
An AI image posted by President Trump earlier
Greenland PM ‘cannot rule out’ US using force 
Jens-Frederik Nielsen
JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, speaking via through an interpreter, said on Tuesday that a use of military force against the Arctic territory was unlikely but could not be ruled out.
He also said the country was working on closer co-operation with the European Union.
Macron warns of a ‘world without rules’
President Macron wearing mirrored shades at Davos
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
President Macron has said that “we are shifting towards a world without rules”.
He has told political and business leaders at Davos that “conflict has become normalised”.
“We’re shifting towards a world without rules where international rule is trampled underfoot and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest and imperial ambitions are resurfacing,” he told the World Economic Forum gathering.
He said “accepting a new colonial approach doesn’t make sense” but that adopting a “purely moral posture” would lead to “marginalisation” and “powerlessness”.
The Élysée said at the weekend that the president had suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his eye, stressing that the condition was harmless and temporary, and that is why he was wearing glasses.
President Macron addresses the French armed forces with a reddened eye
PHILIPPE MAGONI/POOL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Macron had appeared with a reddened, puffy eye when he delivered his annual address to French troops.
He laughed it off as a “minor” ailment and described it as a “sign of determination”, referencing the Rocky III theme tune Eye of the Tiger.
Britons do not want military clash with the US over Greenland
YouGov polling shows that 14 per cent of Britons would want Europe to take Greenland by force if the US invaded.
But most would want to see European leaders adopt a more tentative approach. Some 33 per cent would favour trying to convince the US to leave Greenland through diplomatic means.
Meanwhile, 30 per cent would like Europe to impose economic sanctions on the US if Trump invaded Greenland.
Conservative voters — at 46 per cent — were most likely to choose the diplomatic route, while Lib Dems — 44 per cent — were most in favour of economic sanctions.
Green voters — 26 per cent — were most likely to endorse military retaliation to retake Greenland by force.
US Supreme Court to make tariff ruling
The US Supreme Court could rule on the legality of President Trump’s tariff regime as soon as 3pm UK time.
President Trump maintained from his first day in office that tariff is “the most beautiful word” and has upended longstanding trade relationships using the levies since being elected.
European leaders have balked at Trump’s most recent threat of a further 10 per cent tariff for countries opposing a US takeover of Greenland.
But Lara Spirit, The Times Washington correspondent, told Times Radio: “We have senior figures in the Trump administration saying that tariffs will remain a really important part of Trump’s policy regardless of this ruling.”
“They have means of using levies even if it’s struck down,” she said.
Europe must respond to US tariffs, Denmark says
Mette Frederiksen strides into the Danish parliament on Tuesday
THOMAS TRAASDAHL/EPA
The Danish prime minister said on Tuesday that Europe would have no choice but to respond if a trade war started, following President Trump’s tariffs threat on countries opposing his plans to take over Greenland.
“As Europe, if anyone starts a trade war against us — which I really cannot recommend — we must of course respond. We are compelled to do so,” Mette Frederiksen told the Danish parliament.
“We have never sought any conflicts,” she added.
Zelensky: Greenland is diverting attention from Ukraine
An anti-tank missile fired at Russian forces this month
SHUTTERSTOCK
President Zelensky says he is worried President Trump’s push to take Greenland could be diverting attention from Russia’s invasion, now approaching its four-year mark.
“I’m worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war,” Zelensky told reporters.
He added, however, that the dispute surrounding the autonomous Danish island and Ukraine should not be seen as “interchangeable”.
Chagos deal ‘pushed by civil servants’
The Chagos Islands deal was championed by “a small number of civil servants” and opposed by local officials, a source told The Times earlier this month.
The senior figure in the British overseas territory ceding the territory to Mauritius “permanently weakens western security” and “sells out the Chagossian people”.
The insider added: “In multiple conversations with military and British Indian Ocean territory administration staff it is clear that there is no one who supports this treaty, but they have not been part of the negotiations, and their opinions have largely been ignored.”
An administration of about 70 people, many based in London, govern the islands alongside the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office.
• Read in full: Chagos Islands deal risks security and marine protection, insider says
We must not be slaves to the US, says Belgian PM
Bart De Wever in Davos on Tuesday
DENIS BALIBOUSE/REUTERS
Bart De Wever, the Belgian prime minister, who earlier compared President Trump to the Hungry Caterpillar, has just spoken in Davos.
He said Europe was “at a crossroads” and had to choose self-respect over being a “miserable slave” in its dealings with the United States.
De Wever said: “Until now, we tried to appease the new president in the White House. We were very lenient … but now so many red lines are being crossed that you have the choice between your self-respect. Being a happy vessel is one thing. Being a miserable slave is something else.”
He added: “If you back down now you’re going to lose your dignity. And that’s probably the most precious thing you can have in a democracy.”
He also said he would meet Trump in Davos on Wednesday.
Labour, Tory and Lib Dem politicians denounce embassy approval 
A protest outside Royal Mint Court, the site of the proposed embassy, on Saturday
JACK TAYLOR FOR THE TIMES
Politicians have been reacting to the government’s decision to approve China’s new embassy in London.
• Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, said it “ignores the appalling brutality of the Chinese Communist Party”.
• The Labour peer and barrister Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, co-chair of the cross-party Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: “We cannot reinforce the dangerous notion that Britain will continue to make concessions — such as granting a mega-embassy – without reciprocity or regard for the rule of law.”
• The Liberal Democrats have said the approval was Starmer’s “biggest mistake yet”. Calum Miller, the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, said it would “amplify China’s surveillance efforts here in the UK and endanger the security of our data”.
Europe ‘should have been clearer on Greenland deployment’
A US official told The Times that the Europeans and the UK were “missing the bigger point” with the “relatively small” deployment to Greenland and should have made clear that the deployment was not about defending Greenland from the US.
“If the point of it was to send a message then the message should have been clearer. The announcement of it should have been 100 per cent clear,” the official said.
“If that was the intent you need to say the whole sentence not just half.”
The official said the UK sending just one defence attaché and Germany sending 13 opened them up to “unfair, sarcastic criticism”, referencing Trump’s mocking “two dog sleds” remarks earlier in the month.
The messaging around Yvette Cooper’s trip to the Arctic was “pretty clear” and “the same kind of messaging wasn’t done with Greenland”, and it was not clear if it was a “deployment, exercise [or] symbolic gesture”, the official added.
Ukraine ‘will not join Russia on board of peace’
President Zelensky has said that Ukraine received an invitation to join President Trump’s “board of peace”, but that it would not participate alongside Russia.
The Kremlin said yesterday that Moscow was studying an American proposal to join the board, which Trump’s has said will seek to resolve global wars and conflicts. Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator who has allowed Russia to use his country as a platform for attacks on Ukraine, has also been invited to join, officials in Minsk said.
“It’s hard for me to imagine how we can be together with Russia on any council,” Zelensky said. “Russia is part of the war council.”
Ex-Danish leader calls for ‘European Nato’
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
KRISTIAN TUXEN LADEGAARD BERG/SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET/GETTY
Anders Fogh Rasmussen. the former prime minister of Denmark has called for the creation of a “European Nato”.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was secretary-general of Nato from 2009-14, told Times Radio: “It would mean that we in Europe will have to take care of our own security.
“We will have to create what I would call a European Nato, a coalition of the willing, countries that are capable and willing to do what is necessary to defend Europe.
“I appreciate very much the combined French and British efforts to create this coalition of the willing. So far, it’s been too slow. I think it’s been a coalition of the waiting. But if Trump really attacks Greenland, then we will have to speed up that process.”
Europe must use ‘force and strength’ against Trump
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former secretary-general of Nato, has said “enough is enough” and it’s time for Europe to use “force and strength” against Trump.
The former prime minister of Denmark told Times Radio’s Hugo Rifkind that a US invasion of Greenland would “be the end of Nato”.
Rasmussen said: “It’s extremely serious. Actually, if that threat comes to fruition, it will be the end of Nato. It doesn’t make sense to have a collective defence organisation where the major ally attacks another ally with the aim to take territory.
“I doubt that it will come to that, partly because there is no support for that in the US Congress, and military action against Greenland would require congressional consent.
“There is no support for that in the American people. But obviously, we will have to take the threats of President Trump seriously. So you never know. He’s unpredictable.”
EU preparing ‘investment surge in Greenland’
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said the bloc’s executive arm was working on a package to support Arctic security and preparing an “investment surge in Greenland”.
She said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos: “Arctic security can only be achieved together, and this is why the proposed additional tariffs are a mistake, especially between long-standing allies.
“The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July, and in politics as in business, a deal is a deal.
“Plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape, so our response will be unflinching, united and proportional.”
Grow a backbone, Newsom tells Europe
Gavin Newsom has repeatedly clashed with President Trump
TAYFUN COSKUN/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California tipped as a presidential candidate, has told European leaders to stand up to President Trump and “have a backbone”.
He said at the Davos forum: “I can’t take this complicity of people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders. I mean handing out crowns, the Nobel prizes that are being given away. It’s just pathetic.”
He said European leaders had been played and needed to drastically change their approach.
“Donald Trump is a T-Rex — you either mate with him or he devours you. [European leaders] need to stand tall, stand firm, stand united,” Newsom said.
He continued: “I hope people are waking up to what we are dealing with, it’s code red and you guys are still playing by the old set of rules.
“This is not diplomacy, this is stupidity.”
Chinese mega-embassy approved
The government has approved plans for China’s new mega-embassy in London despite criticism from MPs and campaigners over its security implications.
Campaigners will push for a judicial review.
Luke de Pulford, head of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, had said the government faced an “embarrassing and potentially catastrophic” legal challenge if the plans were approved.
• Chinese mega-embassy approved as Starmer seeks trade deal
‘Absurd for Putin to be on Board of Peace’
Darren Jones has said President Trump’s decision to invite President Putin to join Gaza’s “Board of Peace” is “absurd”.
The cabinet minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I agreed that President Putin is not a man of peace and it would be absurd for him to be on the ‘Board of Peace’.”
He said the UK had received an invitation to participate and that the government was talking to US officials about how it would work.
Besides Trump, confirmed members of the board include Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, and Sir Tony Blair, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the US leader’s son-in-law.
BoE ‘must be alert’ to impact of geopolitical tensions
The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has said the central bank has “to be very alert” of the potential impact from heightened geopolitical tensions as President Trump seeks to seize Greenland.
Bailey told MPs on the parliamentary treasury committee: “The level of geopolitical uncertainty and geopolitical issues is a big consideration, because they can have financial stability consequences.
“Let me put that in a bit of context in two respects. One, having said that, growth in the world economy was a lot more stable than we thought it would be.
“The second point is about financial markets and is a fairly similar point, that we worry considerably about how markets react to those things. Market reactions have actually been more muted than we would have feared and expected.”
US is pursuing ‘imperialism’, Hague warns
William Hague has said that the timing of Trump’s attack on the Chagos deal was “not diplomacy” and that the US is pursuing “imperialism”.
“It’s what we were doing 200 years ago. And now of course, we’ve grown out, we’ve gone way beyond that,” the former Conservative leader and Times columnist told Times Radio.
He added that “in this particular case on the Chagos Islands, it would have been far better if Trump had privately spoken to the UK”.
“Launching these attacks saying the government is stupid in the middle of the night is not diplomacy,” Hague, the foreign secretary under David Cameron, said.
However, he also said the Chagos deal which “hand[s] over the Chagos Islands and then pay[s] Mauritius for the privilege” was not “a good way to do foreign security policy”.
Trump’s Chagos outburst ‘really about Greenland’
A senior cabinet minister claimed that Trump’s Chagos outburst was more about Greenland than the deal for the Indian Ocean archipelago.
The work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, who is known to be close to Sir Keir Starmer, told broadcasters: “I think what we saw last night was a series of posts criticising a number of world leaders. That may tell us that the president is frustrated right now.
“I don’t really believe this is about Chagos, I think it’s about Greenland, and the best way to resolve that is through dialogue with the Danish government, and that’s what we’ve said all along.”
• A brief history of the Chagos Islands — and why they still matter
Lords passed ‘motion to regret’ Chagos deal
The House of Lords passed a “motion to regret” the Chagos Islands deal, a Conservative MP has pointed out.
Sir Bernard Jenkin, a Conservative MP, told Times Radio that the motion was “a very significant indicator of how opinion has shifted against the deal”.
Members agreed to the motion expressing disappointment that the UK-Mauritius agreement imposes a “£35 billion of costs on UK taxpayers” last Monday.
The motion also said the deal did not secure the Diego Garcia base’s “long term future”, and was signed without consulting the Chagossian people.
‘Long live Europe!’ von der Leyen tells Davos
Ursula von der Leyen added that Europe has “full solidarity with Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark”.
She said that “the sovereignty and integrity of their territory is non-negotiable”, in a rebuff to Donald Trump’s apparent attempts to annex Greenland.
She criticised the US president’s threats of further tariffs after a trade deal was agreed last year.
“In politics as in business, a deal is a deal,” she said.
“Europe should speed up its push for independence,” the president of the European Commission added.
“The world is changing … and we need to change with it.” She finished her speech with the cry: “Long live Europe!”
Time for an independent Europe, EC chief says 
Ursula von der Leyen speaking in Davos on Tuesday
DENIS BALIBOUSE/REUTERS
It is “time to build a new, independent Europe”, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has told world and business leaders at Davos.
She said that current geopolitical shocks are forcing Brussels to “build a new form of European independence”.
Von der Leyen added that Europe has “done more on defence than decades before”.
Trade war ‘would be very, very damaging’, Irish PM warns
Irish prime minister Micheál Martin has said that he hopes that “common sense will prevail” in relation to US threats to take over Greenland.
He was speaking as President Trump and other leaders head to Davos for the World Economic Forum.
“We had big difficulties last year, I think last year we managed to avoid reacting to every single statement that gets issued, or a statement that doesn’t get issued,” he said in Dublin.
“So I would hope that common sense will prevail here in the interests of all our people that we represent, both in Europe and in the US, because a trade war would be very, very damaging indeed to workers across Europe, workers across the United States and indeed the world.”
Greenland ‘not a natural part of Denmark’: Kremlin
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has claimed that Greenland is not “a natural part” of Denmark and that the problem of former colonial territories was becoming more acute.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia had no interest in interfering in Greenland’s affairs and that Washington knew that Moscow itself had no plans to take control of the island.
Donald Trump has said he wants full US control of Greenland for national security reasons and on Saturday announced tariffs on imports from European allies that oppose a potential US takeover.
Trump is ‘trolling’ the UK, Thornberry says
Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has called for calm and branded Trump’s statements “presidential trolling”.
The Labour MP told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “My first reaction is: breathe. Breathe. This is an example of presidential trolling. We’ve always said, haven’t we, that we don’t take him literally, but we need to take him seriously.
“It was only a few months ago, in fact I have in front of me a press release from May 22 from Marco Rubio, where he said the US welcomed this historic agreement … So who knows?”
‘Mass US military resignations’ if US invades Greenland
Senior members of the US military would resign if Donald Trump invaded Greenland, according to a prominent journalist.
Gerald Baker, a Times and Wall Street Journal columnist, told Times Radio: “I’m reliably informed by sources in the United States that if he did invade Greenland, there would be a mass resignation by senior members of the US military, apart from anything else.”
He added: “I’m certain of that. This would be an illegal act, not just against international law, which some of us might have a rather cynical, skeptical view about the power of international law. after all, who enforces it. But this will be a breach of US law, a clear breach of US law.”
Baker said he believed Trump was “exercising hyperbole” and would not resort to a military invasion of Greenland.
US speaker tries to calm US-UK tensions 
Mike Johnson addresses MPs
The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has attempted to calm transatlantic tensions over Greenland and Chagos islands, assuring MPs that the Trump administration still valued its relationship with the UK.
In an address to parliament, Johnson, who is a close political ally of the president, praised Sir Keir Starmer’s comments after Trump threatened to raise tariffs on the UK and said the two countries would “work through our differences calmly and as friends”.
“I spoke to President Trump yesterday at length and told him I really felt that my mission here was to encourage our friends and help calm the waters and I hope to do so,” he said.
“We work through our differences calmly and as friends. I want to assure you this morning that is still the case.”
Johnson added that he told Starmer that his address on Monday was “well done” adding: He (Starmer) noted that the UK and US are close allies and that their strong constructive relationship has been built on mutual respect.
“That was the right message and the right tone. We have always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do that.”
No Danish ministers in Davos
While the Danish government is not thought to be sending any ministers to Davos, its business lobby will be out in force.
The bosses of some of Denmark’s biggest companies are expected to use the pinnacle of the global corporate social calendar to take soundings on the prospect of a transatlantic trade war.
Among those due to attend are the chief executives of Maersk, a vast shipping company that has many logistics contracts with the Pentagon, and the pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, which supplies about two fifths of America’s fat jabs and insulin.
Macron invites Trump to Paris talks
President Trump with President Macron in New York last year
EVAN VUCCI/AP
President Macron has invited President Trump to Paris for a seven-way summit to defuse the crisis over Greenland and also tackle Ukraine, with the possible presence of Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
The US president posted Macron’s invitation on his Truth Social network after the latest Trump offensive against Europe over the Danish-controlled territory.
“My friend, we are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Macron said. “I can set up a G7 meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon. I can invite the Ukrainians, the Danish, the Syrians and the Russians in the margins [of the meeting].”
Macron’s office confirmed that the president had sent the message. EU leaders have already decided to meet in Brussels on Thursday evening for a special summit after Trump’s latest threat to impose tariffs on his European allies over his demand to acquire Greenland.
There is no indication so far of Trump’s response to Macron’s invitation to Paris, which included an offer of dinner at the Élysée Palace.
China invited to join ‘Board of Peace’
China has confirmed that it has received an invitation to join President Trump’s “Board of Peace”.
“The Chinese side has received the invitation from the US,” said Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry. However, he declined to answer, when asked if Beijing would accept.
China agreed a fragile trade truce with the United States in October. “Over the past year, China-US relations have experienced ups and downs, but have achieved overall dynamic stability,” the spokesman said.
• Putin invited to join Trump’s global ‘Board of Peace’
Diplomat behind Chagos deal ‘too close to China’
Jonathan Powell, who pushed the US to approve the Chagos Islands’ deal, was criticised as being too close to China months after the treaty was signed.
The British national security adviser faced mounting scrutiny over his relationship with Beijing after a Chinese spy trial collapsed, The Times reported in October.
The Chagos deals hands control of the islands to Mauritius, an ally of China.
One cabinet minister said that Powell was too soft on Beijing and risked undermining Britain’s security interests. “I am concerned that a narrative builds up that we are not strong enough on China,” they said. “Our strategic approach to China [under Powell] is a little bit fuzzy.
“He has become almost like a cabinet minister in that the focus is on him and his policy positions, which is never really a great situation to be in as a non-elected official.”
Powell has said Britain should “enhance” its relationship with Beijing in pursuit of a “stable, practical and long-term partnership”.
Analysis: sycophantic texts designed to capture Trump’s attention
Mark “can’t wait to see” him and finds his accomplishments in Syria “incredible”. Emmanuel thinks they can “build great things” and wants him over for dinner in Paris. Alex and Jonas are begging for a phone call: “Just give us a hint of what you prefer!” (writes Oliver Moody in Berlin).
The flurry of leaked texts from the leaders of Nato, France, Finland and Norway to President Trump over the past 24 hours may induce what the Germans call Fremdscham: the feeling of vicarious embarrassment on someone else’s behalf.
Yet they also provide a rare insight into how top-level diplomacy works in the Trump 2.0 era.
Rutte, Macron, Stubb, Store and their partners from other European countries have clearly decided that the informal and mildly sycophantic SMS is the most direct way to command Trump’s ever-wandering attention.
European patience with Trump ‘finally running out’
Bart De Wever, the Belgian prime minister, has claimed Europe’s patience with President Trump is finally running out — and compared the US president to the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Speaking at Davos, de Wever said the “European hive was buzzing” in response to a flurry of Trump’s social media splurges and threats over Greenland.
“Things are getting heated back and forth,” he said. “My feeling is that the sweet-talking is over. Denmark has always been the US’s staunchest ally, and now they’re being treated this way.
“And when Nato countries organise military presence in Nato territory and are then threatened, you reach the point where sweet-talking is counterproductive, it only encourages them to go a step further; it’s the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
“My feeling is that a large majority thinks that enough is enough.”
UK hits back after Trump’s Chagos comments
A British government spokesman has responded to Trump’s comments, saying that the UK “will never compromise on … national security”.
“We acted because the base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position and would have prevented it operating as intended in future,” the spokesman said.
“This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations, with robust provisions for keeping its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries out.
“It has been publicly welcomed by the US, Australia and all other Five Eyes allies, as well as key international partners including India, Japan and South Korea.”
Trump’s diplomatic slapdown makes life harder for Starmer
Things have just got much worse for Sir Keir Starmer. Just three days after threatening the UK with up to 25 per cent tariffs for standing up for Greenland’s sovereignty, President Trump has now taken an axe to one of the most sensitive issues in transatlantic diplomacy: the Chagos Islands.
The islands, which host the critically important US/UK base Diego Garcia, are due to be handed back to Mauritius. Diego Garcia will then be leased back at a cost of up to £34 billion for the next 100 years.
The deal was always controversial for the government and Trump has now weighed in, describing Starmer’s decision as an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY” and total weakness”.
• Read in full: Trump’s Chagos intervention makes life harder for Starmer
Starmer conciliatory approach to Trump unpopular, says Curtice
Sir Keir Starmer’s conciliatory approach towards President Trump could further damage his popularity, according to polling expert Sir John Curtice.
“I think the truth is it will cause Keir Starmer a problem if the government isn’t able to turn Donald Trump around on Greenland and reduce the sense of anxiety there is among the British public about the geopolitical situation,” he told Times Radio.
Curtice said it reinforced the public’s belief that Starmer was a “problem solver” rather than somebody “providing leadership and direction”.
• Keir Starmer approval rating: the opinion polls tracked
Chagos agreement was questioned by Rubio
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, did question the deal, particularly because of Mauritius’s deepening economic ties with China.
But British diplomats led by Jonathan Powell lobbied their US counterparts to endorse the agreement.
In April, it emerged that Trump had signed off the deal, which will see Britain pay £90 million a year, rising with inflation for 99 years, to lease back Diego Garcia.
A No 10 spokesman said: “It’s now between us and the Mauritian government to finalise the deal following the discussions with the US.”
Trump initially backed Chagos deal 
Starmer and Trump last February
KEVIN LAMARQUE/EUTERS
President Trump previously backed the UK’s Chagos Islands deal, saying he was “inclined” to accept it.
In what was hailed as a diplomatic victory for Starmer, Trump praised the deal during a joint press conference in the Oval Office, on February 27 last year, where Starmer memorably presented Trump with an invitation to a state visit to Britain from the King.
“We’re going to have some discussions about that very soon and I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well,” he said. “I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country.”
He added: “They’re talking about a very long-term, powerful lease, a very strong lease, about 140 years actually. That’s a long time and I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country. It doesn’t sound bad.”
Gold rises to fresh highs as stock markets fall
Gold and silver prices rose to new highs while stock markets fell as investors sold shares to buy safe-haven assets after President Trump intensified his push to wrest Greenland from Denmark.
Bullion rose $4,700 an ounce for the first time, rising one per cent to $4,719.7. Silver hit a record high of $94.72 before easing back.
The FTSE 100 fell 1.1 per cent this morning to 10,083.93, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 both fell by 0.7 per cent. Markets in Asia were also lower.
Trump’s threat of extra tariffs on European nations if a deal on Greenland is not reached has revived talk of the “sell America” trade that emerged in the aftermath of his sweeping “Liberation Day” levies last April.
A weaker dollar has lifted the pound, up 0.4 per cent to $1.3482
What are Trump’s tariff threats and could the UK retaliate?
President Trump’s threat came out of the blue: from the start of next month, he warned, the United States would impose 10 per cent tariffs on all exports from the United Kingdom and seven other European countries “until such a time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland”.
The move blindsided Downing Street and even 48 hours later senior government figures are scrambling to get further information from the White House. So what exactly do we know about the US president’s plans, what will their impact be and, as importantly, what is still unclear?
• Read in full: What are Trump’s tariff threats and could the UK retaliate?
The prime minister with President Trump in the Oval Office last February
CARL COURT/PA
Jack Straw, the former Labour foreign secretary, says Sir Keir Starmer is an example of how to handle Trump whom he said was “the most powerful and one of the least stable people in the world”.
He told Times Radio this morning: “The British government, as everybody else around the world, is having to handle the most powerful person in the world who is also one of the least stable people in the world.”
He said he was “surprised” when Trump previously appeared to back the Chagos deal.
Speaking alongside Sir Keir Starmer in the Oval Office in February last year, Trump said: “I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country.”
Straw said if the “US said they were wholly opposed or even partly opposed … then it wouldn’t have gone ahead”.
Why the Arctic Circle is in everyone’s sights
For most of recorded history, the icy vastness of the Arctic was regarded as a place of fantastical remoteness. In recent decades, though, global warming has transformed the region, and its wildernesses, once perpetually frozen, have begun to thaw.
As the ice retreats a little further every summer, it has opened up a wealth of natural resources from the Bering Strait to the Barents Sea, as well as possibilities for navigation that once seemed unthinkable. But with those possibilities has come the potential for military conflict.
• Read in full: Why the Arctic Circle is in everyone’s sights
President Trump wants Greenland. Russia and China are testing America’s defences around Alaska. The Russian Kola peninsula on Nato’s doorstep, bordering Norway and Finland, bristles with submarine pens and experimental nuclear weapons.
Another senior Tory backs Trump over Chagos
The shadow business secretary says he “agrees” with Trump’s criticism of the Chagos Island deal.
Andrew Griffith, a Conservative MP, told Times Radio this morning: “I don’t agree with Donald Trump on everything but on this occasion I do … it’s a terrible deal, it’s a terrible deal for the environment … for our security.”
He added that he did “trust America” and “trust intelligence sharing” and he raised concerns about the consequences of a Europe-US trade war.
“I’m not sure tit-for-tat tariffs are going to help anybody,” he said, adding: “Tit-for-tat tariffs are going to increase the cost of living here”.
Badenoch: Chagos deal is ‘complete self-sabotage’
Badenoch speaks during a protest outside the site of a proposed new Chinese embassy in London on Saturday
JACK TAYLOR FOR THE TIMES
Kemi Badenoch has said that “paying to surrender the Chagos Islands is not just an act of stupidity, but of complete self sabotage”.
“I’ve been clear and unfortunately on this issue President Trump is right. Keir Starmer’s plan to give away the Chagos Islands is a terrible policy that weakens UK security and hands away our sovereign territory,” she said.
“And to top it off, makes us and our Nato allies weaker in face of our enemies.
“Last night I met Speaker Johnson and we are united in that view. Britain’s and America’s interests align. Keir Starmer has the chance to change course on Chagos. Conservatives call on President Trump to reconsider Greenland too.”
US-Europe relations ‘never been closer’
Scott Bessent in Davos on Tuesday
MARKUS SCHREIBER/AP
In further remarks from Scott Bessent, he also told reporters that US-Europe relations have “never been closer”.
He urged European trading partners to “take a deep breath” and let tensions driven by the Trump administration’s new tariff threats over Greenland “play out”.
“I think our relations have never been closer,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.
Before his criticism of Britain today, on Saturday, Trump announced a 10 per cent import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his stepped up calls for the United States to take over the semi-autonomous territory of Greenland.
Bessent ‘confident’ over Greenland crisis
The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, says he is confident European governments will not “escalate” tensions with the United States over its aim to buy Greenland, and that a solution would be found.
“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 for all,” Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.
Trump shares congratulatory message from Nato boss
President Trump has shared a message, apparently from Nato’s secretary general, praising US policy towards Ukraine, Gaza and Syria.
The US president posted a screenshot of the message on Truth Social, supposedly from Mark Rutte, that reads: “Mr. President, dear Donald — what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible. I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine.
“I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can’t wait to see you.”
Accompanying the Truth Social post, Trump wrote: ‘Thank you to Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO!’
Trump’s provocative AI Greenland flag image
President Trump’s Truth Social post showed him planting a flag flanked by Marco Rubio and JD Vance
An AI-generated image of President Trump raising an American flag on Greenland was among a flurry of posts shared on his Truth Social account in the last few hours.
The picture shows him accompanied by vice president, JD Vance, and secretary of state, Marco Rubio, with a sign reading “Greenland US Territory Est. 2026”.
Trump’s Truth Social post
Another post featured a supposed screenshot of messages from President Macron. The contact, listed as Emmanuel Macron, writes, “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.”
Trump claimed to have a “very good telephone call with Mark Rutte” in another post.
“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!”
Tories welcome Trump’s comments on Chagos
The Conservatives have welcomed Trump’s comments on the Chagos Islands deal, with the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel saying that the deal was “bad… for Britain and bad for our national security”. Patel added: We’ve opposed it from day one and it’s time Starmer put the security of our country first and scrap his rotten deal.”
The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, added: “Starmer’s Chagos deal: the UK gives £35 billion to lease back land we already own, because Labour are afraid of ‘potential’ legal challenges, which have been debunked. Shouldn’t need Trump’s intervention to make the government think again and spend the money on our armed forces instead.”
Jones: It’s fine if Trump disagrees on Chagos 
Darren Jones
LUCY YOUNG FOR THE TIMES
The prime minister’s chief secretary has insisted on Times Radio that the Chagos Islands deal “protects” UK and US military capabilities.
Darren Jones was pressed on his reaction to Trump’s Truth Social post this morning, in which the president derided islands’ transfer to Mauritius as “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY” and benefiting China and Russia.
The cabinet minister said: “What we’ve put in place is to secure that base for 100 years by essentially leasing it. That protects our military capabilities in that important part of the world, both for us and for the Americans.
“When we announced that we were able to secure this deal with the Mauritian government, the American administration and our other Nato allies welcomed it.”
He said it was “fine” if Trump disagreed, adding that the deal would secure Diego Garcia, the site of a UK-US military base, “for the next century”.
Trump refuses to rule out seizing Greenland by force
A protest in Switzerland on Monday, where Trump is heading to speak at Davos
MICHAEL BUHOLZER/EPA
President Trump refused to rule out military action to seize Greenland yesterday.
He told Europe to “focus on Ukraine” amid Nato allies’ opposition to his ambitions for the Danish-controlled island.
He said on Monday that he had agreed to a meeting of “various parties” about his desire to acquire Greenland at Davos this week.
He posted on his Truth Social platform: “I had a very good telephone call with Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of Nato, concerning Greenland.”
European allies — including Yvette Cooper, the UK foreign secretary — have backed Greenland’s sovereignty.
She reiterated the UK’s position that the future of Greenland is for “Greenlanders and for the Danes alone” to decide.
UK’s future ‘lies with Europe, not the US’
Tim Farron, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, has told Times Radio that the UK’s future lies “across the Channel and not the Atlantic”.
The MP said: “There’s can be no doubt now, we are living in, I hate to say it, some kind of age of empires.
“You’ve got the centres of power in China, Russia, America, and so unless Europe wants to be gobbled up by those, and if we do want to defend our way of life, we’ve got to recognise now that clearly our future is across the Channel and probably not across the Atlantic.”
After Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street address on Monday, the party leader, Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said: “Weak, weak, weak. This appeasement must end.
“Starmer should be uniting with our allies against Trump’s threats, not splitting off to suck up to him.”
Tim Farron on Times Radio
Chagos deal is done, minister says
A government minister has declined to say whether Trump’s comments will change the Chagos deal.
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, told Sky News: “We’ve done a deal with the Mauritian government. We’ve legislated for the process. We’ve agreed the terms of the treaty, which has been signed.
“This is the way in which to secure that military base for the next 100 years.”
Asked whether the prime minister’s relatively conciliatory approach to Trump was working, Jones said: “Keir Starmer’s been criticised for not tweeting or shouting or kind of banging the table and calling the president names, as other world leaders have.
“Actually, the approach that he and the government have taken, serious British diplomatic skill has resulted in the UK being better off than any other country in the world in the face of changes to the American administration.”
The deal to transfer the sovereignty of the territory has proved controversial
U.S. NAVY/AP
Trump threatens France with tariffs over Gaza 
President Trump watches a college football game in Miami on Monday
REUTERS
President Trump is threatening huge tariffs on French wine, including Champagne, in an attempt to strong-arm France into joining his Board of Peace initiative.
“I’ll put a 200 per cent tariff on his wines and champagnes. And he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join,” Trump said, referring to President Macron.
France “does not intend to answer favourably” to the invitation, a source close to Macron told AFP on Monday.
“Tariff threats to influence our foreign policy are unacceptable and ineffective,” the source said after Trump made the threat.
Farage: Trump has vetoed Chagos deal
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, posted on X this morning: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands.”
He was responding to the US president accusing the UK of “great stupidity” for giving up the territory.
Trump: Chagos deal was ‘act of great stupidity’
President Trump has described the UK’s transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY” and used it to justify US moves towards Greenland.
The US leader said there was “no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness”, in a Truth Social post this morning.
He added: “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.”
Last summer, the UK signed a £3.4 billion deal to give up sovereignty of the islands, a British territory since 1814, while keeping control of a UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia.
Last year, Trump indicated he was inclined to back the deal, which the Conservative administration began negotiating back in 2022.
Trump criticises Chagos Islands deal
President Trump has suggested Britain’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.
The US president, who is travelling to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, made the claim as he ramped up his rhetoric on acquiring the Arctic territory.
Trump fired off a flurry of posts on his Truth Social platform overnight on Tuesday about taking over Greenland, which is a territory of America’s Nato ally the Kingdom of Denmark.
The military airbase in Chagos
GETTY IMAGES