DAVOS, 22 Jan. - (ANA) - Trump devoted much of his Davos address to a meandering case for buying Greenland, which he twice confused with Iceland

 

US President Donald Trump’s Davos pitch had everything: tariffs, territory, and a cameo from “Daddy.” The president pushed for “immediate negotiations” over Greenland, insisted “That’s our territory,” and turned a conference built for reassurance into a live demonstration of leverage.

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After days of tariff threats aimed at Europe that blew up an interim trade accord with the EU — which the president quickly walked back — Trump took the stage to argue that the U.S. should never have reduced its Greenland footprint and that only Washington can secure the island against Russia and China.

 

Denmark, which oversees Greenland’s foreign affairs, naturally begs to differ.

 

“We need Greenland for strategic national security and international security,” Trump claimed, calling it an “enormous, unsecured island” on “the northern frontier of the Western hemisphere” — as well as “a piece of ice, cold and poorly located.”

 

Somewhere in the middle, Greenland became “Iceland” more than once (or “ice land,” as the administration seems to be claiming) — because nothing says strategic clarity like repeatedly mislabeling the very thing you’re trying to wrest control of.

 

Trump even paused to admire his own technique. “They called me ‘Daddy’ last time,” he said, adding, “A very smart man said, ‘He’s our daddy. He’s running it.’” This, at Davos, where the usual line is insisting you’re here to “listen.”

 

The president tried to sound like a worried friend of the continent. “I want to see Europe go good,” he said, “but it’s not heading in the right direction.”

 

Then came the part that makes NATO lawyers sweat. Trump floated the logic of force — “excessive strength and force,” “unstoppable” — before insisting he wouldn’t use it, like leaving something on the table for someone to read and fear.

 

By the end of the day, the U.S. markets did what they often do with chaos that hasn’t touched earnings: They moved on; the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all closed up 1.2%.

 

Davos is a town built on the idea that everyone can calm down if the right people get in the same room. Trump showed up to remind the room that power doesn’t require consensus — just a microphone, a target, and a narrative with enough audacity to carry it.   - (ANA) - 

 

AB/ANA/22 January 2026 - - -