Gold hit a record high on Wednesday as Donald Trump headed to the World Economic Forum in Davos for talks over his pursuit of Greenland, which has plunged the transatlantic alliance into its biggest crisis in decades.
He is due to address the forum later than expected after his Air Force One plane had to return to Washington because of technical problems.
Gold rose more than 2 per cent, as investors sought a haven from the geopolitical tensions. But broader financial markets steadied, with Wall Street stocks set to claw back a small part of Tuesday’s heavy losses.
Trump said on Tuesday he had “agreed to a meeting of the various parties” in Davos over the Greenland stand-off.
Before setting off, Trump also said “there can be no going back” on his plan to seize Greenland from Denmark. Asked how far he would be willing to go in his pursuit of the Arctic island, the US president said “you’ll find out”.
European governments have held off retaliating against Trump’s threat to impose 10 per cent tariffs on eight European states that recently sent military personnel to the Arctic territory.
On Wednesday, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte said he was concerned that tensions over Greenland risked diverting attention from Russia’s war in Ukraine, but insisted “Europe is safe”.