World Leaders Gather at Davos Amid Escalating Tensions Over Greenland
BBC News
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US President Donald Trump says he will tell European leaders "we have to have" Greenland at this week's forum in Davos, Switzerland
On social media, Trump shares a message apparently from Emmanuel Macron, in which the French president says: "I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland"
He also shares a message he says is from Nato's secretary general and posts generated images of himself placing an American flag on Greenland
On Saturday, Trump threatened eight European allies, including the UK and Denmark, with 10% tariffs if a deal over Greenland is not reached
Greenland's prime minister says "we will not let ourselves be pressured", as European allies have rallied to defend the semi-autonomous Danish territory
Edited by Johanna Chisholm and Matt Spivey, with Bernd Debusmann Jr travelling with President Trump
Von der Leyen now addresses the Greenland situation directly, saying the Europe is "fully committed" when it comes to the security of the Arctic.
"We share the objectives of the United States in this regard," she says.
She says that Arctic security can only be achieved together, saying that this is why Trumps's proposed additional Tariffs are "a mistake".
Referencing the US EU trade deal agreed last July, she says "a deal is a deal".
"When friends shake hands it must mean something."
However, she says Europe's response will be "unflinching, united and proportional".
Speaking to the World Econimic Forum, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen says that geopolitical shocks must "serve as an opportunity for Europe".
She says the "seismic change" that the world is seeing is an opportunity to build a "new form of European independence".
She says this need is not new, nor a "reaction to recent events" but has been a "structiral imperative for far longer".
"If this change is permanent, then Europe must change permanently too," she adds.
"It is time to seize this opportunity and build a new independent Europe"
She adds that the EU is choosing "fair trade over tariffs, partnership over isolation, sustainability over exploitation".
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky might not attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to Axios via Reuters news agency.
They report Zelensky will stay in Kyiv following large-scale Russian strikes overnight.
A Ukrainian official tells Reuters that Ukraine would be ready to sign documents on security guarantees at the forum, if the US is also ready.
Faisal Islam
Economics editor, reporting from Davos
In a church, one should see prayer, and so in the prominent Davos English church taken over by the US delegation at the World Economic Forum (WEF) to celebrate America's 250th birthday, some appeal to faith should not have been a surprise.
It was here that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent thought he could hold forth proclaiming to a mainly European audience to trust the US's decision-making over issues like Greenland.
The "Don’t Panic" message did not go down too well, with Bessent forced to answer why the US was turning on its allies.
But the US treasury secretary, someone who last April rescued the bond market chaos around the infamous Liberation Day tariffs, again urged people to "relax" and "let things play out" on President Trump's tariff threats over Greenland.
He seemed to blame Europe and its media for taking Trump’s repeated social media proclamations at face value.
But the shock in Europe has come from Trump’s other actions – his direct baffling communications with European leaders linking his Nobel prize snub to coveting Greenland, and talks of military plans being pursued.
There is no sign yet of trust being built between allies at Davos. A lot is riding on Trump’s speech here tomorrow afternoon.
More now from US Speaker Johnson, who adds that President Trump is taking the modern and dynamic threats posed by China and Russia "seriously", specifically in relation the Arctic.
"We ignore these threats at our peril," he tells the UK Parliament.
He says the US is trying to usher in a "new golden age" for itself, making America safer, stronger and more prosperous than ever before.
"It is an objective and obvious truth that a strong America is good for the entire world," he says, adding that the same is true for a strong UK.
He says it is important for the US and allies to take care of "our own houses" before "we can take care of the neighbourhood".
US Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson address the UK Parliament
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, is now addressing UK Parliament – you can watch live above.
He says he has returned at a "pivotal moment", and assures the House that the UK and US will continue to "face and overcome together the challenges of our present day".
He says that Keir Starmer's national address – where Johnson says the prime minister stressed the need to navigate difference "calmly, and as friends" – is "still the case".
The US speaker says that his mission today is to "assure my friends, and calm the water".
He expresses a message of unity, saying that our nations are dedicated to freedom and justice – and are stronger than ever before.
In a string of posts on Truth Social this morning, US President Donald Trump shared generated images and screenshots of apparent messages sent to him from world leaders over Greenland.
What you need to know:
We'll shortly be hearing from US Speaker Mike Johnson who is set to address UK parliament at 09:30 GMT – you can watch this live above.
It's also the second day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where various international leaders will be speaking.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest.
Nick Edser
Business reporter
Gold and silver prices have hit record highs again on Tuesday while European stock markets have fallen as investors continue to react to the tariff threat from Donald Trump.
The price of gold rose above $4,700 an ounce for the first time, touching a new high of $4,721.91, while silver also hit a record of $94.72 an ounce before slipping back slightly.
Precious metals are seen as safer assets to hold in times of uncertainty which has helped to push up the prices of both gold and silver over the past year.
But stock markets in Europe opened lower, with the UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s Dax index and France’s Cac 40 all down by about 0.8% shortly after trading began.
Attention will turn to the US markets later on Tuesday. They were closed on Monday for a public holiday so this will be the first chance for them to react to Trump’s comments.
Ursula von der Leyen (L) and Switzerland's Federal President Guy Parmelin at the World Economic Forum in Davos
US Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson is set to address UK parliament today, which you can follow along and watch live on our page at 09:30 GMT.
There's also a whole host of international leaders speaking today at the Davos World Economic Forum:
09:50 GMT: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be addressing attendees at the forum.
10:30 GMT: Polish President Karol Nawrocki, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will take part in a panel on Europe's defence.
15:30 GMT: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will make a special address for those at Davos.
The leaders are speaking ahead of President Donald Trump's attendance tomorrow. We'll make sure to bring you the key lines right here.
Paul Pradier
Reporting from Paris
A source close to French president Macron says this morning that Donald Trump's threats to impose 200% on French wine and champagne over France's intentions to decline the US leader's invitation to join his "Board of Peace" are "unacceptable".
"Threats to use tariffs to influence our foreign policies are unacceptable and ineffective," the source told the BBC.
The same source close to the French president also confirms to the BBC this morning that the French president sent a text message to Donald Trump, offering him to organise a G7 meeting in Paris on Thursday with Russia.
We're now hearing more from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the World Economic Forum in Davos, who has urged European nations to "relax" and "let things play out" over Trump's tariff threats.
"What I am urging everyone here is sit back, take a deep breath and let things play out", he says at a news conference.
"The worse thing countries can do is escalate against the United States. Back then only one country, China, escalated, we ended up in an unfortunate tit for tat."
"What the president is threatening on Greenland is very different than the other trade deals so I would urge all countries to stick with their trade deals. We have agreed on them and it does provide great certainty," he adds.
Asked if the US was still an ally of Europe, Bessent accuses the media of going to a "maximalist position".
"Of course Europe is an ally, the US Nato membership is unquestioned, we are partners in trying to stop the tragic war between Russia and Ukraine but that does not mean that we cannot have disagreements on the future of Greenland," he says.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he is confident that European countries will not "escalate" tensions with the United States over Greenland, according to Reuters news agency.
"I am confident that the leaders will not escalate and that this will work out in a manner that ends up in a very good place for all," he told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Yesterday, he claimed that Greenland was a "strategic asset" that the US should own as the US is the "hottest" and "strongest" country in the world. 
Nick Beake
Europe correspondent, in Brussels
The most muscular European response to Donald Trump's threat of more tariffs for those supporting Greenland has come from the French.
They've raised the prospect of the EU hitting back with economic counter measures, reducing US access to the EU single market or targeting big American tech firms.
But Trump has just laid bare the personal efforts of Emmanuel Macron to reason with him, publishing a text message apparently from the French leader.
"I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland," Macron writes. But he then offers Trump a dinner in Paris and proposes a G7 meeting – after the World Economic Forum in Davos – with Danish, Ukrainian, and Russian representatives attending on the margins
Some have viewed the painstaking European attempts over the past year to manage Donald Trump as shrewd, others as sycophantic.
This could be the moment we see what impact – if any – they've made.
The Chief Secretary to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer tells BBC Breakfast he takes Donald Trump's tariffs threat "seriously".
Darren Jones is asked what Prime Minister Keir Starmer can do if President Trump goes ahead with imposing tariffs on European allies.
Jones reiterates that Starmer's message that the future of Greenland is up to its people, along with the Kingdom of Denmark.
He adds that a trade war is in "no one's interest" and "not the way forward".
Jones adds that military and security partnerships between the UK and US are continuing to operate as they have.
The chief secretary also says he hopes "we can get the American admiration to the right place" as conversations continue between the nations.
Dame Emily Thornberry, the chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, offers a word of caution when asked how she and other MPs plan to address Trump's threats of imposing tariffs on European allies.
When pressed on whether the UK and European allies should prepare to respond with their own retaliatory measures, she tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I'll be in favour of keeping calm, and sit this out a bit."
She adds there is a "bevvy of messages" from the US president – so "we need to remain firm and strong and calm and quite clear".
Katya Adler
BBC Europe editor
Something in Europe has snapped.
President Trump is now leaning heavily on Denmark's allies in the EU and Nato to abandon Copenhagen and let the US take control of Greenland, or face punitive taxes on all their exports to the United States.
It's a horror scenario for European economies, which are already in the doldrums. Especially those reliant on exporting to the US, like Germany's car industry and Italy's luxury goods market.
The Trump threats landed like a slap in the face of European governments, who (separately, in the case of the EU and the UK) had only just settled tariff deals with the US president last year.
"We're living through uncharted territories. We've never seen this before. An ally, a friend of 250 years, is considering using tariffs…as a geopolitical weapon," said France's Finance Minister Roland Lescure.
His German counterpart Lars Klingbeil added: "A line has been crossed…You'll understand that today I'm not saying exactly what will happen. But one thing must be clear: Europe must be prepared."
All of a sudden, the softly-softly approach to Trump, that Europe's leaders had clearly favoured since he returned for a second term to the White House, seems to have passed its sell-by date.
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Travelling with President Trump
I've just touched down on Air Force One at the conclusion of a four day trip to Florida, which ended with President Trump attending the Indiana-Miami national college football championship.
We did not see much of him at the game, although we did see him briefly in his box at the stadium with UFC President Dana White, his daughter Ivanka and several other family members. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also there.
We did, however, briefly catch up with him at Palm Beach International Airport, where he strode over to us alongside Secretary of the Interior Doug Bergum.
Trump was clearly in a jovial mood, and after greeting several family members came and dove right into praise for tonight's players and the state of the economy, unprompted.
He was then peppered with questions, including several about Greenland.
"We have to have it," he said. "They [Denmark] can't protect it."
He also claimed that Nato allies would not "push back too much" on his claim over the island and dismissed European deployments there as "not a military."
"Nato has been warning Denmark for 20 years now…they've been warning Denmark about the Russian threat," he said. "It's not only Russia, it's also China."
"We'll see what happens," he added. "Let's put it this way: it's going to be an interesting Davos."
The US president has just shared an image that seems to show messages from Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte.
This follows the image that Donald Trump shared a little earlier, showing what he said were messages from French President Emmanuel Macron.
In the message, the sender – named on the screenshot as Mark Rutte – thanks him for his work in Syria, and says "I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland."
As well as the screenshot that seems to show messages from French President Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump has also been posting a series of images.
One of the images appears is an edited version of an image taken during August 2025, when European leaders visited Washington for the US president's phone call with Vladimir Putin.
In the image posted on Truth Social, the presentation board has been changed so that a US flag covers North America, Canada and Greenland. The original image depicted the front line of the Ukraine conflict.
The edited image Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social account today
The original image, taken after European leaders visited Washington in August 2025 and posted on the White House flickr account
Another image posted by Trump on his social media account today is an illustration depicting the US president planting the American flag in Greenland, flanked by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice-President JD Vance.
In the foreground of the illustration, is a sign saying "Greenland: US territory, est. 2026."
The illustration Donald Trump posted depicting himself planting the US flag in Greenland
We have so far been focusing on Trump's position on Greenland. But the US president has also shared a message on the UK's plan to hand over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius.
Here is the latest Truth Social from President Trump on the UK's Chagos Islands deal:
"Shockingly, our “brilliant” NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.
There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are International Powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before.
The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.
Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING. Thank you for your attention to this matter. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP"
Last year, Trump indicated he would be prepared to back the UK's deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
We're covering Trump's comments about the UK's Chagos Islands deal in a separate live page, which you can follow here.
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