Trump reiterates desire to acquire Greenland, criticizes Europe, Carney, Biden in Davos speech

A day after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decried the use of economic integration as coercion and the rupture of a world order created after the Second World War, U.S. President Donald Trump stood at the same podium Wednesday and laid out a world order as he sees it.

The U.S.A. is the economic engine on the planet and when America booms, the entire world booms, he said. When it goes bad, it goes bad.

It was unclear what, to him, is bad and what is good — in terms of how America and the world is faring — but he said both face much greater risks than it did ever before.

Because of missiles, nuclear and because of weapons of warfare that I can’t even talk about, Trump said.

He explained that those are also reasons why the U.S. must acquire Greenland, posthaste, especially as his country has never been stronger than we are now.

Hours later, the president posted on Truth Social saying he had discussed the framework of a deal on Greenland and the entire Arctic region with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and would withdraw his threat to impose further tariffs on a group of European countries over the issue.

Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1, Trump wrote. He did not elaborate on details of a deal in his post but said further information will be made available as discussions progress.

Trump says he ‘won’t use force’ to acquire Greenland

U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. won’t use excessive force to acquire Greenland during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, but reiterated his desire to own the Arctic island for security purposes.

This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere, Trump said.

Trump’s speech was over an hour-long, as his speeches often are. Here are some takeaways.

‘Canada lives because of the United States’

He vaunted his administration’s economic and immigration policies, and took jabs at perceived opponents, former president Joe Biden, U.S. congress member Ilhan Omar — and addressed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney directly, calling him Mark and saying Canada “lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Carney may not have mentioned Trump or the United States by name in his speech Tuesday, but the president made clear the messaged had reached him.

The old order is not coming back’: PM says Canada must ‘name reality’ and build strength at home

January 20|Duration16:59DAVOS SPEECH | Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, says Canada is engaging strategically and ‘with open eyes’ as the international orders shifts, forcing middle powers to adapt as they face a ‘rupture’ in global systems.

He repeated many of his stated accomplishments, also presented in a news conference Tuesday on the anniversary of his second inauguration into office last year, including claims of surging productivity and incomes and of declining inflation and immigration.

‘Immediate negotiations’ on Greenland

The U.S. president addressed his threats to annex Greenland, on the heels of tariffs threats to European nations who have sought to prevent him doing so.

Trump said he was seeking immediate negotiations to purchase the territory lying between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and said it was of strategic international importance for the U.S. to run it, but said he wouldn’t use force to do so. Later answering questions from journalists, Trump said, Military’s not on the table. I don’t think it’ll be necessary.

‘We will remember,’ says Trump, if Denmark doesn’t give Greenland to U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum he ‘won’t use force’ to acquire Greenland from Denmark, calling for ‘immediate negotiations’ to make it happen. ‘They have a choice. You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no and we will remember.’

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the assertion was positive and that the European nation would maintain its diplomatic track in discussions.

Rasmussen said on Wednesday that Denmark had worked to keep Greenland free from Chinese investment and influence.

Europe ‘destroying’ itself

Trump took swipes at Europe as a whole at the beginning of his speech, saying, It’s horrible what they’ve done to themselves. Over the weekend, eight European countries defended Greenland’s sovereignty in the face of Trump’s annexation threats.

The fact is no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States, he said.

He said European nations are destroying themselves through cultural and economic policies, including mass migration and the Green New scam, and urged them to follow the U.S.’s lead of deregulation, large tax cuts, tariffs, reduced federal spending, and mass layoffs of federal workers.

Every major oil company is coming in with us’: Trump on Venezuela

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Trump said the U.S. has acquired 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela since deposing former president Nicolás Maduro.

He also repeatedly mocked wind power, saying the United Kingdom has overbuilt and underused its wind farms.

They kill the birds, they ruin your landscapes. Other than that, I think they’re fabulous, by the way. Stupid people buy them, he said.

U.S. treated unfairly by NATO

Trump tied his criticism of European issues to NATO and sharply criticized allies for contributing less than the U.S.

He suggested allies might not defend the U.S. in return and argued Europe should bear more responsibility for Ukraine, given geography. He blamed the Ukraine war on a rigged 2020 U.S. election and Biden’s leadership.

The U.S. president said he’s still seeking to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine and that he will be meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while in Switzerland.

This article is republished from RCI.