Donald Trump doesn’t appear to be backing down on his plan to take Greenland. Asked how far he will go, he had a brief answer. He’s speaking as a “special guest” at a White House briefing – and he’s had much to answer. Follow the latest.
Wednesday 21 January 2026 00:03, UK
That’s all for today’s live updates. Thank you for following along.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more from Donald Trump as he heads to Davos.
Before we return, here’s a rundown of today’s events:
US correspondent Mark Stone analysed Trump’s briefing, saying it was “an extraordinary, inconsistent ramble”, adding that “for a man so obsessed with his image, his lack of self-awareness can be remarkable”.
Watch Gavin Newsom’s remarks here:
A former UK ambassador to the US tells Sky News that Donald Trump’s behaviour is “exceptional and unprecedented”.
Sir Nigel Sheinwald adds that “we have to deal with it and we can’t ignore it”.
“I think there’s already been a change of tone and a change of posture here in the UK,” Sheinwald tells our chief presenter Mark Austin.
“I detected that yesterday with Keir Starmer’s press conference… not ruling out the possibility of retaliation if Trump goes ahead with the tariffs at the end of the month.”
Sheinwald says that the government has realised “the extent of the policy of flattery and everything else that went on last year” cannot survive given Trump’s recent foreign policy decisions.
Watch his full remarks here:
US President Donald Trump’s speech covered a diverse range of topics, from Venezuela, Greenland, and Iran to domestic issues as well.
He spoke to a packed room of reporters for close to two hours.
Donald Trump “prepared the ground” for his arrival in Davos through a string of social media posts, reaffirming his claim to Greenland.
Our business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso adds that Trump’s tactics included threats of economic war and “even sharing private messages from Emmanuel Macron.
“But even as they prepare to welcome him here at USA House, as part of the largest US delegation to the World Economic Forum, European leaders have used the platform Davos provides to push back and hard,” he says.
“The united front from European and G7 leaders here would appear to leave little room for compromise.”
But, Kelso points out that US treasury secretary Scott Bessent says Trump “isn’t for turning either”.
Watch: Trump vs European leaders in Davos
Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that his speech at Davos will recap his administration’s accomplishments in office – much like what we heard in his briefing.
“I think more than anything else, what I’m going to be speaking about is the tremendous success that we’ve had in one year,” Trump added.
“I didn’t think we could do it this fast.”
As we reported at 20:22, Trump said he was “leaving tonight… for Davos,” where he will be holding a meeting on Greenland.
“And I think things are going to work out pretty well,” he said.
Turning back to Donald Trump’s White House briefing, the US president said his administration had taken 50 million barrels out of the South American country.
Trump added that the US had taken it in the first four days, following its intervention, and was selling some of it on the open market.
“We’re bringing down oil prices,” he told reporters.
The US president said there were “millions of barrels of oil left”.
Moving away from Donald Trump’s briefing, which ended a short while ago, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Europe “cannot afford to be weak – neither against its enemies, nor ally”.
The former European Council president made the statementon X, adding that there was a need for “European assertiveness and self-confidence”.
By Mark Stone, US correspondent
I have watched countless speeches and news conferences from President Trump.
This one stands alone. It is an extraordinary inconsistent ramble. Even by his standards (and he’s proud of his ability to “weave” between subjects) this is on another level.
The right wing US news networks stuck with it, but others moved on, skipping the monologue, dipping back only for the questions.
Former president Joe Biden often got lost in his own ramblings. It was why he was kept away from the podium by his team. Even so, his mental acuity was his downfall.
Lost in the ramble
Yet there are no such guardrails for President Trump. His unquestionable accessibility also exposes him.
And I’d argue that his ramblings – today more than any day – are on a different level from what we saw with Biden.
The numerous conservative policy achievements – job numbers up, immigration down, crime down – are lost behind the ramble.
At one point he wondered aloud why his achievements, as he sees them, aren’t resonating with the American people.
“Maybe we have bad public relations people?” he mused, with his press secretary Karoline Leavitt sitting a metre from him.
For a man so obsessed with his image, his lack of self awareness can be remarkable.
Even his supporters – at the grassroots, and in congress – are worried: why obsess over Greenland and Venezuela? That’s not what they understood by ‘America First’.
He’ll need to join the dots as the midterms approach.
“We did well with Venezuela and by the way that’s going to help us bring down the oil prices…” he said towards the end of the briefing.
That’s how he’ll explain his foreign policy in the context of everyday Americans’ lives.
It also explains, bluntly, what Trump’s America is all about.
‘America first’ is perhaps less ‘America before everyone else’ and more ‘America – and to hell with everyone else’.
Donald Trump is still taking questions after his White House briefing.
He’s asked by a reporter if the ultimate break-up of NATO is a price he’s willing to pay for Greenland.
“I think that we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy, and where we’re going to be very happy.
“But we need it [Greenland] for security purposes, we need it for national security and even world security.”
A reporter asks Donald Trump about his proposed tariffs on Europe if they fail to back his plan to acquire Greenland.
“We have a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland,” Trump says.
“I’m leaving tonight as you know for Davos, and we have a lot of meeting scheduled on Greenland.
“And I think things are going to work out pretty well.”
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