{"id":708741,"date":"2026-01-20T13:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/708741\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:57:11","slug":"uk-leader-brands-trump-a-bully-and-corrupt-warns-us-uk-ties-at-risk-amid-greenland-tensions-firstpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/708741\/","title":{"rendered":"UK leader brands Trump a bully and corrupt, warns US-UK ties at risk amid Greenland tensions \u2013 Firstpost"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UK Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has sharply criticised US President Donald Trump, calling him an \u201cinternational gangster\u201d and a \u201cbully\u201d over his Greenland tariff threats, warning that the historic US-UK relationship is now at risk.<\/p>\n<p>In a blistering critique of American foreign policy, UK Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey labelled US President Donald Trump an \u201cinternational gangster,\u201d a \u201cbully,\u201d and \u201cthe most corrupt president the United States has ever seen\u201d during a speech in the House of Commons.<\/p>\n<p>Davey\u2019s comments came in response to Trump\u2019s recent threats of trade tariffs against the United Kingdom and other European allies over their opposition to his plan to \u201cbuy\u201d or annex Greenland from Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADSpecial relationship under strain<\/p>\n<p>Describing the current diplomatic climate as \u201can incredibly grave moment,\u201d Davey warned that the historic \u201cspecial relationship\u201d between the UK and the US \u2014 once celebrated at Windsor Castle \u2014 is now \u201cnearly in tatters.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Trump is acting like an international gangster.<\/p>\n<p>The Prime Minister has tried appeasing him for 12 months and has failed. It&#8217;s time we finally stood up to him and united with our European allies to make him back down. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9T4y5uQhhm\">pic.twitter.com\/9T4y5uQhhm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EdwardJDavey\/status\/2013343536695984639?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump is acting like an international gangster,\u201d Davey said, accusing him of threatening the sovereignty of allies and even \u201cthe end of NATO altogether.\u201d He added that Trump behaves like a bully who \u201cthinks he can grab whatever he wants using force if necessary,\u201d arguing that such discord primarily benefits Russia and China. \u201cThe only people cheering him on are Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Criticism of UK governments<\/p>\n<p>Davey also took aim at previous UK administrations, accusing them of \u201cappeasing Trump, flattering him, fawning over him.\u201d He said the country now faces a choice: \u201cstand up to him\u201d or risk resorting to bribery via \u201ca few billion in his crypto account.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tariffs and tensions over Greenland<\/p>\n<p>The tensions escalated after Trump announced 10\u201325 percent import tariffs on goods from eight European nations, including the UK, in retaliation against countries supporting Denmark\u2019s refusal to negotiate Greenland\u2019s sale. Trump insists the US \u201cneeds\u201d Greenland for strategic security against potential threats from China and Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Further inflaming relations, Trump shared doctored images on social media depicting the US flag planted on Greenland and maps showing both Greenland and Canada as part of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Clash with France<\/p>\n<p>Trump also clashed with French President Emmanuel Macron over US expansionist policies, Gaza, and his so-called \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d initiative, even threatening 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne to force Macron\u2019s compliance.<\/p>\n<p>The row deepened when Trump published a private message from Macron expressing confusion over US actions regarding Greenland. French minister Annie Genevard denounced the tactics as \u201cbrutal\u201d and a \u201ctool for blackmail,\u201d warning that Europe cannot allow such escalation.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged global partners to \u201ctake a deep breath,\u201d insisting that relations have \u201cnever been closer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n<ul class=\"breadcrumbs-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstpost.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Home<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstpost.com\/world\/\" title=\"World\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">World<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"curlink\">&#8216;International gangster&#8217;: UK leader brands Trump a &#8216;bully&#8217; and &#8216;corrupt&#8217;, warns ties with US at risk amid Greenland tensions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>End of Article<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has sharply criticised US President Donald Trump, calling him an \u201cinternational gangster\u201d&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,212559,393,4884,212564,1144,712,212561,212563,16,15,212562,212565,212560,27973,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-708741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-ed-davey-trump-criticism","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-nato-under-trump","14":"tag-northern-ireland","15":"tag-scotland","16":"tag-trump-greenland-controversy","17":"tag-trump-macron-clash","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-us-europe-diplomatic-tensions","21":"tag-us-foreign-policy-criticism","22":"tag-us-tariffs-on-uk","23":"tag-us-uk-relations","24":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115927780238861218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}