Asked about risks of Greenland threats to Nato alliance, Trump insists: ‘Nato will be very happy’
Asked about the risk to the Nato alliance of his Greenland plan, Trump said: “Something is going to happen which will be very good for everybody.”
He added: “We will work out something out where Nato will be very happy and we will be very happy.
“But we need it [Greenland] for security purposes, we need it for national security and even world security.”
Updated at 15.41 EST
Key events
3h ago
‘You’ll find out’: Trump refuses to say how far he would go to seize Greenland
3h ago
Analysis: Trump airing Macron’s private message was designed to hurt and intimidate
3h ago
Analysis: Nervous rex – the Davos elite brace for Trump and his dinosaur diplomacy
4h ago
A summary of today’s developments
5h ago
Asked about risks of Greenland threats to Nato alliance, Trump insists: ‘Nato will be very happy’
5h ago
Asked how far he will go on Greenland, Trump says: ‘You’ll find out’
5h ago
Trump suggests Board of Peace ‘might’ come to replace the UN
5h ago
Trump says he’s done more for Nato ‘than any other person, alive or dead’ and questions whether Nato would come to US’s rescue
7h ago
Donald Trump begins White House press briefing
8h ago
Tusk: ‘appeasement is always a sign of weakness’
8h ago
Nato ‘would have been in ash heap of history’ if it wasn’t for me, Trump says
9h ago
Lithuania’s Nausėda calls for EU-US deal on Arctic security to end Greenland tensions
9h ago
European parliament to freeze ratification of EU-US trade deal
9h ago
Stubb says recent talks on Greenland ‘give me little bit of hope’ on finding way through tensions
9h ago
Macron declares ‘full support’ in message to Greenlandic people
9h ago
Gavin Newsom attacks Europe’s ‘complicity’ over Trump Greenland demands
9h ago
European leaders line up to condemn Trump’s ‘new colonialism’ in Davos – first take
9h ago
Canada ‘stands firmly’ with Greenland, Denmark, supports their ‘unique right’ to determine Greenland’s future, Canada’s Carney says
10h ago
Danish PM says she will not abandon Greenland
10h ago
Meloni faces domestic criticism for positioning herself as mediator with Trump over Greenland
10h ago
Zelenskyy says he is ‘worried’ Greenland dispute could shift attention away from Russia’s war on Ukraine
11h ago
No country has the right to take over territory of another, EU foreign policy chief says amid Trump threat to seize Greenland
11h ago
Military US attack on Greenland ‘not likely’, but cannot be ‘ruled out,’ PM says, as he warns of consequences
11h ago
Belgium yet to take position on countermeasures or ‘trade bazooka’ against US despite fighting rhetoric from PM – snap analysis
11h ago
US Bessent criticises Spain for defence spending, UK for Chagos islands deal
11h ago
US Bessent tells Europe to ‘take deep breath’ and ‘not retaliate’ on trade
12h ago
Don’t waste time with crazy ideas, Macron says, as he rejects ‘new imperialism or colonialism’
12h ago
‘We know what we have to fix: growth, peace, climate,’ Macron says in call to ‘not be divided’
12h ago
‘Crazy’ to think of EU having to respond to ‘useless aggressivity’ of US tariff threats, Macron says
12h ago
‘We prefer respect over bullies,’ Macron says as pitches Europe as place for business
12h ago
Macron talks about Europe’s trade response to US, China policies
12h ago
Macron paints choice between ‘new colonial approach’ and ‘law of strongest’ and ‘effective multilateralism’
12h ago
Macron warns about crumbling multilateralism as takes aim at US, China’s policies
12h ago
Marcon warns about instability and imbalances in today’s world before taking swipe at Trump’s war record
12h ago
France’s Macron addressing Davos – watch live
12h ago
The day so far – summary
12h ago
‘if anyone starts trade war against us … we must respond,’ Danish prime minister says
13h ago
EU cannot ‘stay herbivore’ in post-atlantic world, Belgium’s De Wever says
13h ago
‘They have to behave like ally,’ Belgium’s De Wever tells US, as “unfortunately not” granted it will remain ally under Trump
13h ago
‘Europe must tell Trump: this far and no further. Back down or we will go all the way,’ Belgian PM says
13h ago
Croatia’s Plenković hints at EU trip to Ukraine on fourth anniversary of Ukraine war
13h ago
Europe learned ‘hard way’ about its previous mistakes and illusions, Belgium’s de Wever says
13h ago
Trump ‘crossing red lines’ and 80 years of atlanticism could be drawing to close if he doesn’t change tack, Belgian PM says
13h ago
Lithuania’s president ‘sceptical’ about peace settlement on Ukraine as Russia continues with ‘imperialist’ ambitions
14h ago
Von der Leyen rolls out pitch for ‘EU Inc’ as she rebukes Trump over tariff threats – snap analysis
15h ago
US tariffs risk ‘plunging us into downward spiral,’ von der Leyen warns
15h ago
Proposed US tariffs on European partners ‘a mistake,’ von der Leyen says
15h ago
‘This must end’, EU’s von der Leyen says of Russia’s aggression on Ukraine
15h ago
EU’s von der Leyen highlights regulatory, capital, investment reforms in push to rival US, China
15h ago
‘New Europe already emerging,’ von der Leyen says as she hails new trade deals and lauds ‘fair trade over tariffs’
15h ago
EU’s von der Leyen warns ‘nostalgia’ will ‘not bring back old order’ as she calls for ‘new independent’ Europe
15h ago
EU’s von der Leyen speaks at Davos
15h ago
Greenland not ‘natural part’ of Denmark, Russia says
15h ago
US treasury secretary Bessent urges Europe not to retaliate against Trump’s Greenland tariffs
16h ago
UK defends Chagos deal from Trump’s criticism
17h ago
Morning opening: Trump takes aim at UK, France, Macron, Greenland in busy overnight Truth Social session
17h ago
Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos deal, Nigel Farage says
18h ago
What was contained within the UK-Chagos Islands agreement?
18h ago
Trump says UK’s decision to hand over sovereignty to Chagos Islands is act of ‘great stupidity’
18h ago
Macron’s text message shared by Trump on Truth Social is authentic, source says
18h ago
Trump says ‘no going back’ on Greenland
19h ago
Opening summary
Show key events only
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This is it for today from the Europe blog. We’ll bring you all the latest news from Davos and beyond when our European colleagues return in the morning.
Share‘You’ll find out’: Trump refuses to say how far he would go to seize Greenland
Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump ratcheted up the uncertainty over how far he would be willing to go to acquire Greenland and warned the Nato alliance that it was only as strong as the United States allowed it to be.
“You’ll find out,” Trump said in a terse reply at a White House press briefing before moving to the next question.
Trump also declined to offer any reassurances that Nato leaders were craving about his commitment to the stability of the transatlantic alliance after his threats to take over Greenland by force.
The US president repeated multiple times that he had done more for Nato than anyone else, as part of suggestions that he should have free rein to shape its future and what territories the US controlled.
When asked whether the breakup of Nato was a price he would pay to acquire Greenland, a territory of Denmark, Trump said he thought whatever happened would be beneficial to the alliance.
I’ve made it so much better, so much stronger. It’s so good now. Nato is so much stronger. Whether you like it or not, it’s only as good as we are. If Nato doesn’t have us, Nato is not very strong.
Trump’s freewheeling remarks came hours before he was scheduled to leave Washington DC to travel to the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, where he was set to meet with world leaders.
Read Hugo’s full report here:
Updated at 17.46 EST
Analysis: Trump airing Macron’s private message was designed to hurt and intimidate
Patrick Wintour
Diplomatic editor
The words “private and confidential” have never meant a great deal to Donald Trump. In his discussions with other world leaders, he has never operated much of a filter, happy to provide not just the facts of a conversation but also its content and tone, with descriptions all the way from beautiful to nasty.
But it is a new development (barring bits of mildly solicitous correspondence from Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year) for him to simply copy and paste the entirety of private messages on to social media, as he did in the case of Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to set up a G7 meeting in Paris to discuss Greenland, Ukraine and Syria.
The publication of Macron’s message was designed to hurt, just as a message attacking Keir Starmer was intended to wound. Fortunately for Macron, proposing a G7 meeting – a typically bold Macron initiative – did not reveal him saying one thing in public and something else in private. The views he expressed on Greenland, Syria, Iran and the need to work in tandem were concisely, if slightly fawningly, expressed and largely in line with his public views.
The episode again underlines that Trump’s methods remove the basic modicum of trust required for two leaders to cooperate efficiently. One leader tries to operate by the established rules of diplomatic efficiency. Trump blows them up.
In this case, Trump may have been annoyed with Macron, a man he enjoys belittling, because the French president had refused an offer of a seat on his board of peace; a refusal that threatens to unravel his plan to supplant the United Nations with a body he alone controls.
Trump may also have been annoyed earlier in the week by the leak of his own message to the prime minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, saying he no longer felt an obligation to think only of peace after being snubbed for the Nobel peace prize.
But the release of the Macron message was not just an act of reprisal or attention seeking. It is about Trump using mass communication as a way to intimidate and destabilise his rivals, by dominating the flow of information and changing the conventions.
Read more here:
ShareAnalysis: Nervous rex – the Davos elite brace for Trump and his dinosaur diplomacy
Heather Stewart and John Collingridge
“There’s no diplomacy with Donald Trump: he’s a T rex. You mate with him or he devours you.” Debate at the World Economic Forum annual meetings high in the Swiss Alps is usually scrupulously polite, but as this year’s gathering got under way in Davos today, California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, had this blunt advice for handling the week’s star speaker.
The US president was yet to arrive but throughout the blond wood congress centre the hottest topic among the global elite of business and politics – on and off conference stages – was Trump’s intemperate attack on European allies, threatening punitive tariffs if they fail to let him annex Greenland.
Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, kicked off the day by urging US allies to calm down, accusing them of “hysteria” in their reaction to the president’s comments.
What I am urging everyone here to do is sit back, take a deep breath and let things play out.
However, a string of European leaders who addressed delegates seemed very reluctant to wait and see what the T rex is minded to do to them when he arrives to give his speech tomorrow afternoon.
Some analysts suggested that Trump would seek to woo his audience rather than create fresh drama. But with both sides of an increasingly raw global divide on clear display, the stage is set for the T rex to make quite an entrance.
Read the full analysis here:
During the White House press briefing earlier, Donald Trump said he had “lost a lot of respect for Norway” and that he believes “strongly” that Oslo “controls the Nobel Peace Prize”.
Asked about not winning the prize, Trump talked about the many wars and conflicts he believes he’s solved. “I didn’t do it for the Nobel Prize,” he said, adding that he was now trying to solve the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Norway controls the shots,” he said. “It’s a joke.”
“Norway has tremendous control over the Nobel Prize no matter what they say,” he added. (As I’m sure you know, the peace prize is awarded by an independent committee, not the Norwegian government).
ShareA summary of today’s developments
Donald Trump said he is confident an agreement will be reached over Greenland during planned meetings in Davos. Asked whether the financial commitments made by other countries to the US would collapse over his Greenland plan, the US president told reporters in Washington DC: “I doubt it. They need that agreement very badly with us. They fought very hard to get it. We have a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland in Davos. I think things are going to work out very well.”
Asked how far he is willing to go to acquire Greenland, Trump said: “You’ll find out.” Trump later said: “Something is going to happen which will be very good for everybody.” He added: “We will work out something out where Nato will be very happy and we will be very happy. “But we need it [Greenland] for security purposes, we need it for national security and even world security.” Trump added when he speaks to Greenlanders he is “sure they are going to be thrilled”.
Trump repeated his claim that he’s “done more for Nato than any other person, alive or dead”.
Asked to characterise his relationship with French president Emmanuel Macron and the UK’s PM Keir Starmer, president Trump said: “No, I haven’t [spoken to them], but I think I get along very well with them. “I mean, they they always treat me well. They get a little bit rough when I’m not around, but when I’m around they treat me very nicely.”
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said on Tuesday he preferred “respect to bullies” and the “rule of law to brutality”. Macron told the World Economic Forum in Davos, that now was “not a time for new imperialism or new colonialism”, criticising the “useless aggressivity” of Trump’s pledge to levy tariffs on countries that opposed a US takeover of Greenland.
The Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said Europe “cannot afford to be weak” in standing up to the US president Donald Trump. In a post on X, he wrote: “Appeasement is always a sign of weakness. Europe cannot afford to be weak – neither against its enemies, nor ally.”
The European parliament will freeze ratification of the EU-US trade deal in response to Donald Trump’s tariff threats to European countries who oppose his takeover of Greenland. The European parliament had been due to vote in the coming weeks on introducing 0% tariffs on US industrial goods, a key part of the deal signed between Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland last summer.
Share
Lisa O’Carroll
On his relationship with president Macron and Keir Starmer, Trump told reporters: “I haven’t [spoken to them since Truth Social posts] but I think I get along very well with them. I mean, they they always treat me well.
“They get a little bit rough when they’re, you know, when I’m not around, but when I’m around, they treat me very nicely.
“You know, I like both of them. They’re both liberal.
“They’ve got to straighten out their countries. You can’t, you know, London is having a lot of problems. And if you look at Paris, got a lot of problems. They have two problems, immigration and energy. They got to stop with the windmills, and they got to go back like UK has an unbelievable asset called the North Sea.
Norway uses it, makes a fortune. They have a better section of it, and they don’t do it. They could straighten out their countries, and it would be good, but I get along very well.”
Trump also said he would not attend in the event that there is a Group of Seven nations meeting in Paris as his friend Emmanuel Macron is on his way out.
Updated at 15.59 EST
Trump has now finished his press briefing.
ShareLisa O’Carroll
Did Donald Trump just give a glimpse of alternative ways of taking control of Greenland? A licence?
When asked at the press conference what would happen his plans if the supreme court ruled against him on tariffs, thereby removing his threat against opponents in Europe.
“Well, I have to use something else. I mean, take a look at the word licence. Take a look at other things. I mean, we have other alternatives, but the what we’re doing now is the best, the strongest, the fastest, the easiest, the least complicated.”
Asked if the EU’s pledge to invest almost $1trn into the US would disappear if he carried out his threat to impose new tariffs on imports from eight European countries, he said: “I doubt it. They need that agreement very badly with us. They really do, they fought very hard to get it. So I doubt that.”
He said he had “a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland” in Davos and “things are going to work out”.
Updated at 16.00 EST
Asked about risks of Greenland threats to Nato alliance, Trump insists: ‘Nato will be very happy’
Asked about the risk to the Nato alliance of his Greenland plan, Trump said: “Something is going to happen which will be very good for everybody.”
He added: “We will work out something out where Nato will be very happy and we will be very happy.
“But we need it [Greenland] for security purposes, we need it for national security and even world security.”
Updated at 15.41 EST
Asked whether the financial commitments made by other countries to the US would collapse over Trump’s Greenland plan, he said: “I doubt it. They need that agreement very badly with us. They fought very hard to get it. We have a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland in Davos. I think things are going to work out very well.”
Updated at 15.22 EST