{"id":255871,"date":"2026-01-21T09:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T09:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/255871\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T09:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T09:11:09","slug":"tensions-rise-ahead-of-trump-appearance-at-davos-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/255871\/","title":{"rendered":"Tensions rise ahead of Trump appearance at Davos \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Main PointsDonald Trump<\/a> is set to make an appearance at Davos<\/a> amid escalating tensions with European leaders over his desire for control over Greenland<\/a>The US president told reporters yesterday: \u201cWe have to have it [Greenland]\u201dFrance\u2019s Emmanuel Macron says Europe prefers \u201crespect to bullies\u201d amid US tariff threats over EU opposition to Greenland planCanadian PM Mark Carney told Davos<\/a> ahead of Trump\u2019s address that the US-led rules-based order is \u201cfading\u201dTaoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin is also set to arrive in Davos\u00a0<\/a>later todayKey ReadsKeith Duggan<\/a>: Trump hurtles to Davos with Greenland on his mind and no stop in sightMichael McDowell<\/a>: The worse Trump behaves, the more room there is for optimismJohn McManus<\/a>: The EU should channel Michael O\u2019Leary when dealing with Donald Trump<\/p>\n

\u00d3rla Ryan – 20 minutes ago<\/p>\n

Echoing these sentiments, MEP Barry Andrews said Ireland and the EU \u201chave to show backbone\u201d and it is now time \u201cto stand up\u201d to Trump.<\/p>\n

While every effort must be made exhaust diplomatic efforts, Andrews told Newstalk Breakfast there had been a complete change in the approach of the United States to foreign policy, Vivienne Clarke reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no point in having further concessions, further appeasement, further flattery. We just have to show backbone,\u201d Andrews said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a small country like Ireland, the absolute priority is for us to stick with EU solidarity. And we had a debate yesterday in the European Parliament on all of this issue, and the degree to which the European Union has posed together on this issue is really extraordinary. So that gives us strength in numbers, it gives us security.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dublin MEP continued: \u201dIreland had to show solidarity with Denmark. Our Danish colleague are calling on each of the individual member states to use whatever levers they have to try to influence US politics, including the Congress, including US business, including academia in the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd obviously there are weeks and weeks of contact, of diplomatic contact, between Irish ministers, Irish society generally with the US – and so the Danes want us to do what we do best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00d3rla Ryan – 34 minutes ago<\/p>\n

Labour leader Ivana Bacik has said we are living in “extraordinary times” and the European Union must use “every lever at its disposal” to stop any attempts by Trump to take over Greenland.<\/p>\n

“The fact that we\u2019re even discussing a threat by the US to a sovereign state in Europe is itself extraordinary,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"LabourLabour leader Ivana Bacik (pictured in October) said Donald Trump is “a bully”. Photograph by Alan Betson\/The Irish Times<\/p>\n

Speaking on RT\u00c9\u2019s Morning Ireland, the Dublin Bay South TD said: \u201cThe first thing the EU has to do is to take a new stance – no more appeasement of Trump, no more flattery, no more capitulating – because we\u2019ve seen that simply doesn\u2019t work. He is a bully.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen in Davos just yesterday, a real strengthening of language of EU leaders like [Emmanuel] Macron, like the Belgian prime minister [Bart De Wever], and indeed, other leaders like Mark Carney of Canada, who now say we must stand up to Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bacik said the EU should deploy its \u201cfinancial armoury\u201d, namely tariffs and the anti-coercion mechanism (which allows Brussels to limit US companies\u2019 access to public procurement contracts), before any potential military moves are made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe, first of all, that it\u2019s appropriate for allies – and the EU and the US have been long-standing allies – I don\u2019t think it\u2019s appropriate for threats of military force to be made by allies against each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Trump this week vowed to \u201c100 per cent\u201d follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on European countries who oppose his demand to take control of Greenland. He has said he may use military force to take over the country.<\/p>\n

Bacik said if Trump continues to threaten Europe it would not be appropriate for the Taoiseach to visit the White House for St Patrick\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\u00d3rla Ryan – 38 minutes ago<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach will also arrive in Davos later today.<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l Martin said he was \u201clooking forward to attending\u201d the forum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an opportunity to meet with international leaders and business leaders to discuss how we can work together to best address geopolitical and economic challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach is due to address business leaders at an IDA event.<\/p>\n

He will also have a number of meetings with senior business and political leaders on the margins of the forum.<\/p>\n

\u00d3rla Ryan – 58 minutes ago<\/p>\n

Trump is \u201clikely to be three hours late\u201d to Davos, according to US secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent, following the problem with Air Force One. <\/p>\n

Trump was due to give his special address at the World Economic Forum at 1.30pm Irish time – that time hasn\u2019t changed yet on the official programme. <\/p>\n

– The Guardian <\/p>\n

\u200bEurope must wake up in \u200dthe face of threats of fresh \u200dtariffs by Trump if Europe does \u200cnot let him take \u2060over Greenland, European Central Bank \u200cpolicymaker \u200bFrancois \u200dVilleroy de Galhau said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope must stand \u2060firm and defend \u2060itself, and Europe can also \u2060wake up and play its \u200down cards,\u201d Villeroy told France 2 television.<\/p>\n

Villeroy said fresh tariffs by the US would weaken economic growth \u200cfor all \u200cparties involved but that their impact on \u200cEuropean inflation should be \u2060rather muted.<\/p>\n

– Reuters<\/p>\n

British energy secretary Ed Miliband said prime minister Keir Starmer had shown \u201ccalm leadership\u201d in his handling of Trump, as he called for \u201cde-escalation\u201d over Greenland.<\/p>\n

Miliband told Sky News<\/a> Starmer was not travelling to the World Economic Forum in Davos as there were \u201call kinds of other things that he\u2019s doing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"BritishBritish energy secretary Ed Miliband leaves following the weekly Government cabinet meeting at Downing Street on Tuesday. Photograph by Leon Neal\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe bigger picture here is that the prime minister is, I think, navigating a really difficult international situation with great skill and in our national interest…<\/p>\n

\u201cI know some people will want to say, why hasn\u2019t the prime minister been matching Donald Trump tweet-for-tweet, all of that. I honestly say to you, we would be in a much worse position as a country.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has shown calm leadership, which got us the first trade deal with the US, which got us the lowest tariff.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow this is a very challenging situation, and we\u2019ve got a principle, which is we seek common ground with Donald Trump, but where we disagree, we say so, and that\u2019s what he said on Greenland.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut no, I think Keir Starmer\u2019s leadership is absolutely right on this and I think at this stage, it\u2019s about de-escalation and finding a way through this tricky situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

British defence secretary John Healey is in Davos for the forum.<\/p>\n

– Press Association<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s arrival in Davos is set to be delayed due to an issue with Air Force One.<\/p>\n

The plane was forced to abort its flight to Switzerland early this morning and turn back after what officials described as a \u201cminor electrical issue\u201d. <\/p>\n

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the decision to return to Washington DC had been taken shortly after departure \u201cout of an abundance of caution\u201d, once the crew detected the fault. <\/p>\n

A White House pool reporter travelling with the US president said the lights in the press cabin of Air Force One flickered off briefly after the aircraft became airborne, though no further explanation was provided at the time. <\/p>\n

On landing, Trump transferred to a second plane and continued his trip to the World Economic Forum.<\/p>\n

According to the White House press pool, the crew on the plane quickly moved boxes of fruit, wrapped sandwiches and beverages to the new plane. Other staffers were seen pulling about a dozen suitcases off the plane and placing them onto a truck.<\/p>\n

The plane departed just after midnight local time (5am Irish time), more than two hours after the initial flight took off.<\/p>\n

– The Guardian<\/p>\n

Trump is due to speak in Davos on Wednesday afternoon, as his bid to seize Greenland threatens to tear the transatlantic Nato alliance apart.<\/p>\n

Asked on Tuesday how far he was prepared to go to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a fellow Nato member, Trump replied: \u201cYou\u2019ll find out.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Leaders in the Swiss ski resort have closed ranks against Trump\u2019s aggressive America First stance, with French president Emmanuel Macron vowing to stand up against \u201cbullies\u201d and the EU promising an \u201cunflinching\u201d response.<\/a><\/p>\n

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has said the US-led global system of governance is enduring \u201ca rupture,\u201d defined by great power competition and a \u201cfading\u201d rules-based order.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday<\/a>, Carney said: \u201cWe are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an apparent warning against efforts to appease major powers, he said countries like Canada can no longer hope that \u201ccompliance will buy safety\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Good morning. <\/p>\n

We will be keeping you up to date with all the latest developments ahead of US president Donald Trump\u2019s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

\"USUS president Donald Trump speaking to reporters during a briefing at the White House in Washington DC on Tuesday. Photograph by Eric Lee\/The New York Times <\/p>\n

Trump yesterday doubled down on his threats to take control of Greenland.<\/p>\n

His arrival in Davos today is expected to be delayed due to a \u201cminor electrical issue\u201d on Air Force One.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Main PointsDonald Trump is set to make an appearance at Davos amid escalating tensions with European leaders over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,120986,969,113,3024,61,60,90,1963],"class_list":{"0":"post-255871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-davos","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-greenland","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-us-tariffs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}