It is “time to build a new, independent Europe”, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has told world and business leaders at Davos.
She said that current geopolitical shocks are forcing Brussels to “build a new form of European independence”.
Von der Leyen added that Europe has “done more on defence than decades before”.
Trade war ‘would be very, very damaging’, Irish PM warns
Irish prime minister Micheál Martin has said that he hopes that “common sense will prevail” in relation to US threats to take over Greenland.
He was speaking as President Trump and other leaders head to Davos for the World Economic Forum.
“We had big difficulties last year, I think last year we managed to avoid reacting to every single statement that gets issued, or a statement that doesn’t get issued,” he said in Dublin.
“So I would hope that common sense will prevail here in the interests of all our people that we represent, both in Europe and in the US, because a trade war would be very, very damaging indeed to workers across Europe, workers across the United States and indeed the world.”
Greenland ‘not a natural part of Denmark’: Kremlin
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has claimed that Greenland is not “a natural part” of Denmark and that the problem of former colonial territories was becoming more acute.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia had no interest in interfering in Greenland’s affairs and that Washington knew that Moscow itself had no plans to take control of the island.
Donald Trump has said he wants full US control of Greenland for national security reasons and on Saturday announced tariffs on imports from European allies that oppose a potential US takeover.
Trump is ‘trolling’ the UK, Thornberry says
Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has called for calm and branded Trump’s statements “presidential trolling”.
The Labour MP told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “My first reaction is: breathe. Breathe. This is an example of presidential trolling. We’ve always said, haven’t we, that we don’t take him literally, but we need to take him seriously.
“It was only a few months ago, in fact I have in front of me a press release from May 22 from Marco Rubio, where he said the US welcomed this historic agreement … So who knows?”
‘Mass US military resignations’ if US invades Greenland
Senior members of the US military would resign if Donald Trump invaded Greenland, according to a prominent journalist.
Gerry Baker, a Times and Wall Street Journal columnist, told Times Radio: “I’m reliably informed by sources in the United States that if he did invade Greenland, there would be a mass resignation by senior members of the US military, apart from anything else.”
He added: “I’m certain of that. This would be an illegal act, not just against international law, which some of us might have a rather cynical, skeptical view about the power of international law. after all, who enforces it. But this will be a breach of US law, a clear breach of US law.”
Baker said he believed Trump was “exercising hyperbole” and would not resort to a military invasion of Greenland.
US speaker tries to calm US-UK tensions 
Mike Johnson addresses MPs
The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has attempted to calm transatlantic tensions over Greenland and Chagos islands, assuring MPs that the Trump administration still valued its relationship with the UK.
In an address to parliament, Johnson, who is a close political ally of the president, praised Sir Keir Starmer’s comments after Trump threatened to raise tariffs on the UK and said the two countries would “work through our differences calmly and as friends”.
“I spoke to President Trump yesterday at length and told him I really felt that my mission here was to encourage our friends and help calm the waters and I hope to do so,” he said.
“We work through our differences calmly and as friends. I want to assure you this morning that is still the case.”
Johnson added that he told Starmer that his address on Monday was “well done” adding: He (Starmer) noted that the UK and US are close allies and that their strong constructive relationship has been built on mutual respect.
“That was the right message and the right tone. We have always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do that.”
No Danish ministers in Davos
While the Danish government is not thought to be sending any ministers to Davos, its business lobby will be out in force.
The bosses of some of Denmark’s biggest companies are expected to use the pinnacle of the global corporate social calendar to take soundings on the prospect of a transatlantic trade war.
Among those due to attend are the chief executives of Maersk, a vast shipping company that has many logistics contracts with the Pentagon, and the pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, which supplies about two fifths of America’s fat jabs and insulin.
Macron invites Trump to Paris talks
President Trump with President Macron in New York last year
EVAN VUCCI/AP
President Macron has invited President Trump to Paris for a seven-way summit to defuse the crisis over Greenland and also tackle Ukraine, with the possible presence of Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
The US president posted Macron’s invitation on his Truth Social network after the latest Trump offensive against Europe over the Danish-controlled territory.
“My friend, we are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” Macron said. “I can set up a G7 meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon. I can invite the Ukrainians, the Danish, the Syrians and the Russians in the margins [of the meeting].”
Macron’s office confirmed that the president had sent the message. EU leaders have already decided to meet in Brussels on Thursday evening for a special summit after Trump’s latest threat to impose tariffs on his European allies over his demand to acquire Greenland.
There is no indication so far of Trump’s response to Macron’s invitation to Paris, which included an offer of dinner at the Élysée Palace.
China invited to join ‘Board of Peace’
China has confirmed that it has received an invitation to join President Trump’s “Board of Peace”.
“The Chinese side has received the invitation from the US,” said Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry. However, he declined to answer, when asked if Beijing would accept.
China agreed a fragile trade truce with the United States in October. “Over the past year, China-US relations have experienced ups and downs, but have achieved overall dynamic stability,” the spokesman said.
• Putin invited to join Trump’s global ‘Board of Peace’
Diplomat behind Chagos deal ‘too close to China’
Jonathan Powell, who pushed the US to approve the Chagos Islands’ deal, was criticised as being too close to China months after the treaty was signed.
The British national security adviser faced mounting scrutiny over his relationship with Beijing after a Chinese spy trial collapsed, The Times reported in October.
The Chagos deals hands control of the islands to Mauritius, an ally of China.
One cabinet minister said that Powell was too soft on Beijing and risked undermining Britain’s security interests. “I am concerned that a narrative builds up that we are not strong enough on China,” they said. “Our strategic approach to China [under Powell] is a little bit fuzzy.
“He has become almost like a cabinet minister in that the focus is on him and his policy positions, which is never really a great situation to be in as a non-elected official.”
Powell has said Britain should “enhance” its relationship with Beijing in pursuit of a “stable, practical and long-term partnership”.
Analysis: sycophantic texts designed to capture Trump’s attention
Mark “can’t wait to see” him and finds his accomplishments in Syria “incredible”. Emmanuel thinks they can “build great things” and wants him over for dinner in Paris. Alex and Jonas are begging for a phone call: “Just give us a hint of what you prefer!” (writes Oliver Moody in Berlin).
The flurry of leaked texts from the leaders of Nato, France, Finland and Norway to President Trump over the past 24 hours may induce what the Germans call Fremdscham: the feeling of vicarious embarrassment on someone else’s behalf.
Yet they also provide a rare insight into how top-level diplomacy works in the Trump 2.0 era.
Rutte, Macron, Stubb, Store and their partners from other European countries have clearly decided that the informal and mildly sycophantic SMS is the most direct way to command Trump’s ever-wandering attention.
European patience with Trump ‘finally running out’
Bart De Wever, the Belgian prime minister, has claimed Europe’s patience with President Trump is finally running out — and compared the US president to the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Speaking at Davos, de Wever said the “European hive was buzzing” in response to a flurry of Trump’s social media splurges and threats over Greenland.
“Things are getting heated back and forth,” he said. “My feeling is that the sweet-talking is over. Denmark has always been the US’s staunchest ally, and now they’re being treated this way.
“And when Nato countries organise military presence in Nato territory and are then threatened, you reach the point where sweet-talking is counterproductive, it only encourages them to go a step further; it’s the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
“My feeling is that a large majority thinks that enough is enough.”
UK hits back after Trump’s Chagos comments
A British government spokesman has responded to Trump’s comments, saying that the UK “will never compromise on … national security”.
“We acted because the base on Diego Garcia was under threat after court decisions undermined our position and would have prevented it operating as intended in future,” the spokesman said.
“This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations, with robust provisions for keeping its unique capabilities intact and our adversaries out.
“It has been publicly welcomed by the US, Australia and all other Five Eyes allies, as well as key international partners including India, Japan and South Korea.”
Trump’s diplomatic slapdown makes life harder for Starmer
Things have just got much worse for Sir Keir Starmer. Just three days after threatening the UK with up to 25 per cent tariffs for standing up for Greenland’s sovereignty, President Trump has now taken an axe to one of the most sensitive issues in transatlantic diplomacy: the Chagos Islands.
The islands, which host the critically important US/UK base Diego Garcia, are due to be handed back to Mauritius. Diego Garcia will then be leased back at a cost of up to £34 billion for the next 100 years.
The deal was always controversial for the government and Trump has now weighed in, describing Starmer’s decision as an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY” and total weakness”.
• Read in full: Trump’s Chagos intervention makes life harder for Starmer
Starmer conciliatory approach to Trump unpopular, says Curtice
Sir Keir Starmer’s conciliatory approach towards President Trump could further damage his popularity, according to polling expert Sir John Curtice.
“I think the truth is it will cause Keir Starmer a problem if the government isn’t able to turn Donald Trump around on Greenland and reduce the sense of anxiety there is among the British public about the geopolitical situation,” he told Times Radio.
Curtice said it reinforced the public’s belief that Starmer was a “problem solver” rather than somebody “providing leadership and direction”.
• Keir Starmer approval rating: the opinion polls tracked
Chagos agreement was questioned by Rubio
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, and Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, did question the deal, particularly because of Mauritius’s deepening economic ties with China.
But British diplomats led by Jonathan Powell lobbied their US counterparts to endorse the agreement.
In April, it emerged that Trump had signed off the deal, which will see Britain pay £90 million a year, rising with inflation for 99 years, to lease back Diego Garcia.
A No 10 spokesman said: “It’s now between us and the Mauritian government to finalise the deal following the discussions with the US.”
Trump initially backed Chagos deal 
Starmer and Trump last February
KEVIN LAMARQUE/EUTERS
President Trump previously backed the UK’s Chagos Islands deal, saying he was “inclined” to accept it.
In what was hailed as a diplomatic victory for Starmer, Trump praised the deal during a joint press conference in the Oval Office, on February 27 last year, where Starmer memorably presented Trump with an invitation to a state visit to Britain from the King.
“We’re going to have some discussions about that very soon and I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well,” he said. “I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country.”
He added: “They’re talking about a very long-term, powerful lease, a very strong lease, about 140 years actually. That’s a long time and I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country. It doesn’t sound bad.”
Gold rises to fresh highs as stock markets fall
Gold and silver prices rose to new highs while stock markets fell as investors sold shares to buy safe-haven assets after President Trump intensified his push to wrest Greenland from Denmark.
Bullion rose $4,700 an ounce for the first time, rising one per cent to $4,719.7. Silver hit a record high of $94.72 before easing back.
The FTSE 100 fell 1.1 per cent this morning to 10,083.93, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 both fell by 0.7 per cent. Markets in Asia were also lower.
Trump’s threat of extra tariffs on European nations if a deal on Greenland is not reached has revived talk of the “sell America” trade that emerged in the aftermath of his sweeping “Liberation Day” levies last April.
A weaker dollar has lifted the pound, up 0.4 per cent to $1.3482
What are Trump’s tariff threats and could the UK retaliate?
President Trump’s threat came out of the blue: from the start of next month, he warned, the United States would impose 10 per cent tariffs on all exports from the United Kingdom and seven other European countries “until such a time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland”.
The move blindsided Downing Street and even 48 hours later senior government figures are scrambling to get further information from the White House. So what exactly do we know about the US president’s plans, what will their impact be and, as importantly, what is still unclear?
• Read in full: What are Trump’s tariff threats and could the UK retaliate?
The prime minister with President Trump in the Oval Office last February
CARL COURT/PA
Jack Straw, the former Labour foreign secretary, says Sir Keir Starmer is an example of how to handle Trump whom he said was “the most powerful and one of the least stable people in the world”.
He told Times Radio this morning: “The British government, as everybody else around the world, is having to handle the most powerful person in the world who is also one of the least stable people in the world.”
He said he was “surprised” when Trump previously appeared to back the Chagos deal.
Speaking alongside Sir Keir Starmer in the Oval Office in February last year, Trump said: “I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country.”
Straw said if the “US said they were wholly opposed or even partly opposed … then it wouldn’t have gone ahead”.
Why the Arctic Circle is in everyone’s sights
For most of recorded history, the icy vastness of the Arctic was regarded as a place of fantastical remoteness. In recent decades, though, global warming has transformed the region, and its wildernesses, once perpetually frozen, have begun to thaw.
As the ice retreats a little further every summer, it has opened up a wealth of natural resources from the Bering Strait to the Barents Sea, as well as possibilities for navigation that once seemed unthinkable. But with those possibilities has come the potential for military conflict.
• Read in full: Why the Arctic Circle is in everyone’s sights
President Trump wants Greenland. Russia and China are testing America’s defences around Alaska. The Russian Kola peninsula on Nato’s doorstep, bordering Norway and Finland, bristles with submarine pens and experimental nuclear weapons.
Another senior Tory backs Trump over Chagos
The shadow business secretary says he “agrees” with Trump’s criticism of the Chagos Island deal.
Andrew Griffith, a Conservative MP, told Times Radio this morning: “I don’t agree with Donald Trump on everything but on this occasion I do … it’s a terrible deal, it’s a terrible deal for the environment … for our security.”
He added that he did “trust America” and “trust intelligence sharing” and he raised concerns about the consequences of a Europe-US trade war.
“I’m not sure tit-for-tat tariffs are going to help anybody,” he said, adding: “Tit-for-tat tariffs are going to increase the cost of living here”.
Badenoch: Chagos deal is ‘complete self-sabotage’
Badenoch speaks during a protest outside the site of a proposed new Chinese embassy in London on Saturday
JACK TAYLOR FOR THE TIMES
Kemi Badenoch has said that “paying to surrender the Chagos Islands is not just an act of stupidity, but of complete self sabotage”.
“I’ve been clear and unfortunately on this issue President Trump is right. Keir Starmer’s plan to give away the Chagos Islands is a terrible policy that weakens UK security and hands away our sovereign territory,” she said.
“And to top it off, makes us and our Nato allies weaker in face of our enemies.
“Last night I met Speaker Johnson and we are united in that view. Britain’s and America’s interests align. Keir Starmer has the chance to change course on Chagos. Conservatives call on President Trump to reconsider Greenland too.”
US-Europe relations ‘never been closer’
Scott Bessent in Davos on Tuesday
MARKUS SCHREIBER/AP
In further remarks from Scott Bessent, he also told reporters that US-Europe relations have “never been closer”.
He urged European trading partners to “take a deep breath” and let tensions driven by the Trump administration’s new tariff threats over Greenland “play out”.
“I think our relations have never been closer,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.
Before his criticism of Britain today, on Saturday, Trump announced a 10 per cent import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his stepped up calls for the United States to take over the semi-autonomous territory of Greenland.
Bessent ‘confident’ over Greenland crisis
The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, says he is confident European governments will not “escalate” tensions with the United States over its aim to buy Greenland, and that a solution would be found.
“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,” Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.
Trump shares congratulatory message from Nato boss
President Trump has shared a message, apparently from Nato’s secretary general, praising US policy towards Ukraine, Gaza and Syria.
The US president posted a screenshot of the message on Truth Social, supposedly from Mark Rutte, that reads: “Mr. President, dear Donald — what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible. I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine.
“I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can’t wait to see you.”
Accompanying the Truth Social post, Trump wrote: ‘Thank you to Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO!’
Trump’s provocative AI Greenland flag image 
President Trump’s Truth Social post showed him planting a flag flanked by Marco Rubio and JD Vance
An AI-generated image of President Trump raising an American flag on Greenland was among a flurry of posts shared on his Truth Social account in the last few hours.
The picture shows him accompanied by vice president, JD Vance, and secretary of state, Marco Rubio, with a sign reading “Greenland US Territory Est. 2026”.
Trump’s Truth Social post
Another post featured a supposed screenshot of messages from President Macron. The contact, listed as Emmanuel Macron, writes, “We are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland. Let us try to build great things.”
Trump claimed to have a “very good telephone call with Mark Rutte” in another post.
“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!”
Tories welcome Trump’s comments on Chagos
The Conservatives have welcomed Trump’s comments on the Chagos Islands deal, with the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel saying that the deal was “bad… for Britain and bad for our national security”. Patel added: We’ve opposed it from day one and it’s time Starmer put the security of our country first and scrap his rotten deal.”
The shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, added: “Starmer’s Chagos deal: the UK gives £35 billion to lease back land we already own, because Labour are afraid of ‘potential’ legal challenges, which have been debunked. Shouldn’t need Trump’s intervention to make the government think again and spend the money on our armed forces instead.”
Jones: It’s fine if Trump disagrees on Chagos 
Darren Jones
LUCY YOUNG FOR THE TIMES
The prime minister’s chief secretary has insisted on Times Radio that the Chagos Islands deal “protects” UK and US military capabilities.
Darren Jones was pressed on his reaction to Trump’s Truth Social post this morning, in which the president derided islands’ transfer to Mauritius as “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY” and benefiting China and Russia.
The cabinet minister said: “What we’ve put in place is to secure that base for 100 years by essentially leasing it. That protects our military capabilities in that important part of the world, both for us and for the Americans.
“When we announced that we were able to secure this deal with the Mauritian government, the American administration and our other Nato allies welcomed it.”
He said it was “fine” if Trump disagreed, adding that the deal would secure Diego Garcia, the site of a UK-US military base, “for the next century”.
Trump refuses to rule out seizing Greenland by force
A protest in Switzerland on Monday, where Trump is heading to speak at Davos
MICHAEL BUHOLZER/EPA
President Trump refused to rule out military action to seize Greenland yesterday.
He told Europe to “focus on Ukraine” amid Nato allies’ opposition to his ambitions for the Danish-controlled island.
He said on Monday that he had agreed to a meeting of “various parties” about his desire to acquire Greenland at Davos this week.
He posted on his Truth Social platform: “I had a very good telephone call with Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of Nato, concerning Greenland.”
European allies — including Yvette Cooper, the UK foreign secretary — have backed Greenland’s sovereignty.
She reiterated the UK’s position that the future of Greenland is for “Greenlanders and for the Danes alone” to decide.
UK’s future ‘lies with Europe, not the US’
Tim Farron, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, has told Times Radio that the UK’s future lies “across the Channel and not the Atlantic”.
The MP said: “There’s can be no doubt now, we are living in, I hate to say it, some kind of age of empires.
“You’ve got the centres of power in China, Russia, America, and so unless Europe wants to be gobbled up by those, and if we do want to defend our way of life, we’ve got to recognise now that clearly our future is across the Channel and probably not across the Atlantic.”
After Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street address on Monday, the party leader, Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said: “Weak, weak, weak. This appeasement must end.
“Starmer should be uniting with our allies against Trump’s threats, not splitting off to suck up to him.”
Tim Farron on Times Radio
Chagos deal is done, minister says
A government minister has declined to say whether Trump’s comments will change the Chagos deal.
Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, told Sky News: “We’ve done a deal with the Mauritian government. We’ve legislated for the process. We’ve agreed the terms of the treaty, which has been signed.
“This is the way in which to secure that military base for the next 100 years.”
Asked whether the prime minister’s relatively conciliatory approach to Trump was working, Jones said: “Keir Starmer’s been criticised for not tweeting or shouting or kind of banging the table and calling the president names, as other world leaders have.
“Actually, the approach that he and the government have taken, serious British diplomatic skill has resulted in the UK being better off than any other country in the world in the face of changes to the American administration.”
The deal to transfer the sovereignty of the territory has proved controversial
U.S. NAVY/AP
Trump threatens France with tariffs over Gaza 
President Trump watches a college football game in Miami on Monday
REUTERS
President Trump is threatening huge tariffs on French wine, including Champagne, in an attempt to strong-arm France into joining his Board of Peace initiative.
“I’ll put a 200 per cent tariff on his wines and champagnes. And he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join,” Trump said, referring to President Macron.
France “does not intend to answer favourably” to the invitation, a source close to Macron told AFP on Monday.
“Tariff threats to influence our foreign policy are unacceptable and ineffective,” the source said after Trump made the threat.
Farage: Trump has vetoed Chagos deal
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, posted on X this morning: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands.”
He was responding to the US president accusing the UK of “great stupidity” for giving up the territory.
Trump: Chagos deal was ‘act of great stupidity’
President Trump has described the UK’s transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY” and used it to justify US moves towards Greenland.
The US leader said there was “no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness”, in a Truth Social post this morning.
He added: “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.”
Last summer, the UK signed a £3.4 billion deal to give up sovereignty of the islands, a British territory since 1814, while keeping control of a UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia.
Last year, Trump indicated he was inclined to back the deal, which the Conservative administration began negotiating back in 2022.
TIMESGRAB / /President Donald Trump Truth Social post about Chagos
NOT KNOWN, CLEAR WITH PICTURE DESK
Trump criticises Chagos Islands deal
President Trump has suggested Britain’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is among the reasons he wants to take over Greenland.
The US president, who is travelling to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, made the claim as he ramped up his rhetoric on acquiring the Arctic territory.
Trump fired off a flurry of posts on his Truth Social platform overnight on Tuesday about taking over Greenland, which is a territory of America’s Nato ally the Kingdom of Denmark.
The military airbase in Chagos
GETTY IMAGES