01/22/2026January 22, 2026German Finance Minister: Domestic and international pressure caused Trump’s tariff reversal
Germany‘s Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil has blamed international pressure and falling investor confidence for President Donald Trump’s suspension of threatened tariffs on European countries.
“There was growing criticism in the US, and there was growing criticism from Europe and also internationally, and I think that also changed something in Donald Trump,” Klingbeil told Germany’s ZDF broadcaster.
It was important that Europe “made it clear that these are the sovereign interests of Greenland and also Denmark,” Klingbeil said. “There is state integrity and sovereignty, and that will not be shifted.”
He also saw “growing uncertainty” about investing in the United States which triggered “nervousness in the United States,” said Klingbeil, who is also Germany’s finance minister.
Klingbeil made the comments after Trump announced waiving the tariffs because of reaching a deal with NATO over Greenland.
After what Klingbeil called “the back and forth of the last few days,” he warned of too much optimism.
“We have to wait a bit and not get our hopes up too soon,” he said.
“We are now waiting to see what substantive agreement Mr. Rutte and Mr. Trump will reach.”
https://p.dw.com/p/57Coc
01/22/2026January 22, 2026WATCH: DW’s US correspondent on what is know about the Greenland deal
US correspondent Mischa Komadovsky tells DW News that the Greenland framework rests on four core elements. Watch for more:
https://p.dw.com/p/57Cle
01/22/2026January 22, 2026Trump claims everyone is ‘happy’ with Greenland deal
Trump told US broadcaster CNN that “everybody’s very happy with the deal” and that it “gives us everything we needed to get.”
But Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic Inuit member of Denmark’s parliament, didn’t sound too happy in a Facebook post she published after Trump’s announcement.
“What we are witnessing these days in Trump’s statements is completely crazy,” she wrote.
“NATO has no mandate whatsoever to negotiate anything without us from Greenland,” she added. “Nothing about us without us.”
“Total confusion is being created,” she said.
https://p.dw.com/p/57Cld
01/22/2026January 22, 2026Recap: Trump backs down on tariff threat after announcing Greenland deal
Here’s a quick recap to get you up to speed on the latest around Greenland.
Trump announces Greenland framework
Late Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social that the US and NATO had “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.”
The announcement came after talks with NATO head Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Later asked by a reporter about whether the deal fulfilled his desire for the United States to own Greenland, Trump said the matter was a “little bit complex.”
For his part, Rutte said in an interview that the issue of Denmark’s sovereignty hadn’t “come up.”
Europe welcomes Trump’s cancelling of tariff threats
Countries including Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands said Trump’s decision to suspend tariffs on eight European nations was positive.
The tariffs were scheduled to start on February 1, but Trump said he wouldn’t be imposing the tariffs because of the new deal.
Trump rules out use of force to take Greenland
Earlier at Davos, Trump said in a speech that he wouldn’t use “excessive strength and force [to take control on Greenland] where we would be, frankly unstoppable.”
https://p.dw.com/p/57Clc
Good morning and welcome to our blog about the situation regarding Greenland.
We’re separating the topic from our daily coverage to do with the news from the World Economic Forum in Davos, which you can find here.
On Wednesday, European lawmakers suspended the approval of a trade deal reached with the US last year in July, as the US built up a push to control Greenland.
Hours after that, US President Donald Trump said he was going to back away from imposing tariffs on eight European countries after citing a “productive” meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, with whom he said he formed a “framework of a future deal” over Greenland.
On Thursday, European leaders are meant to come together in Brussels for what was billed last weekend as an emergency summit in response to Trump’s tariff threat.
We know that Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, sent out an invitations to the heads of government of all 27 member states for an informal meeting over dinner, scheduled to take place later this evening in Brussels.
We’ll keep track and keep you posted.
https://p.dw.com/p/57ClJ