The European Union’s top official says President Donald Trump’s threats of new tariffs over Greenland are “a mistake especially between long-standing allies,” and she’s calling into question Trump’s trustworthiness after he agreed last year not to impose more tariffs on EU countries.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was responding Tuesday to Trump’s announcement of a 10% import tax will be imposed in February on goods from eight European nations rallying around Denmark as he insists on a U.S. takeover of the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged America’s trading partners to “take a deep breath.” One year into his second term, Trump is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos — an annual gathering of the global elite — where amid the Europeans’ resistance he may see many of the billionaires he has surrounded himself with. Follow live updates from Davos.
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Trump administration urges judge to reject effort to stop ICE in Minnesota
The U.S. Department of Justice is urging a federal judge to reject a move to stop the immigration enforcement surge that has roiled the Twin Cities area.
Its memo filed Monday evening calls the lawsuit filed by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul “legally frivolous” and asked U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez to deny it. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of the two cities sued after an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, provoking outrage and protests across the country.
The memo argues that Minnesota is safer because Operation Metro Surge has arrested more than 3,000 people in the country illegally, and that “Put simply, Minnesota wants a veto over federal law enforcement.”
Menendez ruled separately Friday that federal officers in Minnesota can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren’t obstructing authorities, including when these people are observing agents arresting people.
Still no decision from Supreme Court in Trump tariffs case
The justices handed down decisions in three other cases Tuesday.
The court heard arguments two-and-a-half months ago in a challenge to the president’s authority to impose wide-ranging tariffs under an emergency powers law that, before last year, had never been used to levy tariffs.
The issue has arguably taken on more urgency as Trump threatens new tariffs on allies because of disagreements over Greenland.
The court took on the case on an expedited basis, raising the prospect of a quick decision. But the court is about to embark on a nearly monthlong break and the next scheduled day when decisions are possible is February 20.
Baby dies from cold in Gaza as leaders meet to discuss Trump’s Board of Peace
A Palestinian baby girl died from hypothermia on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, another casualty of grim humanitarian conditions in the territory as world leaders gather at a Swiss resort with Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan high on the agenda.
Shaza Abu Jarad’s family found the 3-month-old “freezing, and dead” on Tuesday morning in their tent in Gaza City, the baby’s father, Mohamed Abu Jarad, told The Associated Press by phone after a funeral.
He lives with his wife and their seven other children in a makeshift tent, one family among the hundreds of thousands sheltering in tent camps and war-battered buildings in the cold, wet winter. Their baby was the ninth child to die from severe cold this winter in Gaza, according to the strip’s health ministry. Israel disputes the ministry’s war casualties toll but has not provided its own.
Money from the big bill flows with few restraints
With Republican control of Congress, even if Congress wanted to curtail Trump’s immigration operations — by threatening to shut down the government, for example — it would be difficult to stop the spend.
What Trump called the “big, beautiful bill” is essentially on autopilot through 2029, the year he’s scheduled to finish his term and leave office.
The legislation essentially doubled annual Homeland Security funding, adding $170 billion to be used over four years. Of that, ICE, which typically receives about $10 billion a year, was provided $30 billion for operations and $45 billion for detention facilities.
Democrats in Congress seek leverage on ICE spending
Congress will need to consider routine funding for Homeland Security by Jan. 30 or risk a partial shutdown in some operations.
The GOP’s version of the annual bill would provide about $92 billion for the agency, including $10 billion for ICE. A growing group of Democratic senators and the Congressional Progressive Caucus say they won’t support additional funds without significant changes.
Lawmakers are considering various restrictions on ICE operations, including limiting arrests around hospitals, courthouses, churches and other sensitive locations and ensuring that officers display proper identification and refrain from wearing face masks.
“I think ICE needs to be totally torn down,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., on CNN over the weekend. “People want immigration enforcement that goes after criminals,” he said, and not what he called this “goon squad.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned Democrats that “they need to get out of the way and allow federal law enforcement to do its duty.”
Bessent says ‘do not retaliate’ against US for its Greenland plans
The US treasury secretary was asked at Davos about the emergency summit E.U. leaders are planning in response to U.S. plans for Greenland.
“I would say exactly what I said after Liberation Day last April, when the President imposed tariff levels on the whole world. I tell everyone sit back, take a deep breath. Do not retaliate. Do not retaliate. The President will be here tomorrow, and he will get his message across,” Bessent said.
Macron says EU ‘should not hesitate’ to use anti-coercion mechanism in face of Greenland tariff threats
Macron says Trump’s threats could push the EU to use the mechanism to block American companies from accessing European markets “for the very first time.”
“Can you imagine that?” Macron said Tuesday at Davos. “This is crazy.”
It’s not time for “new imperialism or new colonialism,” Macron said. “Let’s not accept a global order which will be decided by those who claim to have, I would say, the bigger voice or the bigger stick.”
Instead of trade disputes, allied countries should be focused on bringing peace to Ukraine and focus on the global challenges of “growth, peace, climate,” he said.
Greenland’s prime minister is insisting on respect for territorial integrity
Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in response to a question from The Associated Press that his government has had good meetings with NATO and its allies and that all western countries should be united by “respect for national, territorial integrity (and) respect for international law.”
Nielsen pointed out that Greenland has been “a close ally of the United States to NATO many, many, many years” and is “willing to cooperate much more.”
Speaking earlier at parliament in Copenhagen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen also stressed that Denmark had been a “loyal and close ally” for many years, but “nevertheless, we are now being threatened by our closest ally.”
Fredriksen told party leaders during question time in parliament on Tuesday that “the worst may still be ahead of us.”
Trump thanks you for your attention to these matters
A stunning military intervention in Venezuela. Telling the New York Giants which coach to hire. Threats against Iran, Denmark, Greenland and Colombia. Posing ith someone else’s Nobel Peace Prize. Dangling the potential of deploying U.S. troops in Minneapolis. Flipping off a critic. Announcing an aggressive round of tariffs. Threatening political enemies. For President Donald Trump, this blizzard was just the first half of January.
If a president’s most valuable currency is time, Trump operates as if he has an almost limitless supply, commanding constant attention with little regard for consequences, leaning more toward virality than virility, with social media as his primary accelerant.
“The president exists loudly,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “The president will play with fire. I haven’t seen him yet play with live hand grenades, but I’ve seen him come damn close. That’s just the way he is, and it’s not going to change.”
▶ Read more about Trump’s attention-grabbing second term
Trump’s ICE force is sweeping America, and it’s only just begun
A ballooning Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget. Hiring bonuses of $50,000. Swelling ranks of ICE officers, to 22,000, in an expanding national force bigger than most police departments in America.
Trump promised the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and the big tax and spending cuts bill passed by Republicans in Congress is now fueling unprecedented immigration enforcement actions in cities like Minneapolis and beyond.
As the president marks the first year of his second term, the immigration enforcement and removal operation that has been a cornerstone of his domestic and foreign policy agenda is rapidly transforming into something else — a national law enforcement presence with billions upon billions of dollars in new spending from U.S. taxpayers.
The Department of Homeland Security announced in December that it had arrested and deported about 600,000 people and that 1.9 million others had “voluntarily self-deported” since January 2025.
▶ Read more about Trump’s ICE force
US treasury secretary urges leaders to be open to Trump’s ideas
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says world leaders should “have an open mind” about Trump’s plan to acquire Greenland.
“Greenland is becoming more and more attractive for foreign conquest” and the president “believes that it must be part of the United States to prevent a conflict,” Bessent said during a conversation with Fox News Channel’s Maria Bartiromo, Tuesday on the sidelines of Davos.
Global markets slump after Trump threatens 8 NATO members with punishing tariffs over Greenland
U.S. futures tumbled alongside global markets early Tuesday after Trump threatened to hit eight NATO members with new tariffs as tensions escalate over his attempts to assert American control over Greenland.
Futures for the S&P 500 sank 1.8% while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.6%, almost 600 points. The tech heavy Nasdaq slumped 1.8%.
Markets in Paris, Frankfurt and London all fell more than 1% and were on track for a second straight day of losses.
Silver and gold both rose to records again as investors sought safety amid heightened geopolitical tensions. Gold was up 3% at $4,733 an ounce while Silver jumped more than 7% to $95.30.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives predicts that tensions will ultimately calm down and that “just like over the last year the bark will be worse than the bite.”
▶ Read more about developments in financial markets
Trump slams UK deal to hand over Chagos Islands after he previously backed it
A startled British government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, after Trump attacked the plan, which his administration had previously supported.
Trump said that relinquishing the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, home to a strategically important American naval and bomber base, was an act of stupidity that shows why he needs to take over Greenland.
The blast from Trump was a rebuff to efforts by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to calm tensions over Greenland and patch up a frayed trans-Atlantic relationship. Starmer on Monday called Trump’s statements about taking over Greenland “completely wrong,” but called for the rift to be “resolved through calm discussion.”
▶ Read more about Trump’s comments on the Chagos Islands
Read what France’s Macron and the head of NATO are saying to Trump behind the scenes
While Europe is pushing back publicly against Trump over Greenland, the language appears softer behind the scenes.
Trump published a text message on Tuesday that he received from French President Emmanuel Macron, confirmed as genuine by Macron’s office.
Starting with “My friend,” Macron’s tone was more deferential than the criticism that France and some of its European partner nations are openly voicing against Trump’s push to wrest Greenland from NATO ally Denmark.
Before broaching the Greenland dispute, Macron opted in his message to first talk about other issues where he and Trump seem to be roughly on the same page.
“We are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran,” the French leader wrote in English.
Then, he added: “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland,” immediately followed by: “Let us try to build great things.”
That was the only mention that Macron made of the semi-autonomous Danish territory that Trump covets in the two sections of message that Trump published. It wasn’t immediately clear from Trump’s post when he received the message.
▶ Read more about the messages
Surrounded by billionaires in Davos, Trump plans to lay out how he’ll make housing more affordable
Trump plans to use a key address Wednesday to try to convince Americans he can make housing more affordable, but he’s picked a strange backdrop for the speech: a Swiss mountain town where ski chalets for vacations cost a cool $4.4 million.
On the anniversary of his inauguration, Trump is flying to the World Economic Forum in Davos — an annual gathering of the global elite — where he may see many of the billionaires he has surrounded himself with during his first year back in the White House.
Trump had campaigned on lowering the cost of living. But in office, he has devoted more time to cavorting with the wealthy than talking directly to his working-class base.
Trump’s attention in his first year back has been less on pocketbook issues and more fixed on foreign policy with conflicts. He is now bent on acquiring Greenland to the chagrin of European allies — a headline likely to dominate his time in Davos, overshadowing his housing ideas.
▶ Read more about Trump at Davos
Top EU official questions Trump’s trustworthiness over Greenland tariff threat
The European Union’s top official on Tuesday described Trump’s planned new tariffs over Greenland as “a mistake especially between long-standing allies” and called into question Trump’s trustworthiness, saying that he had agreed last year not to impose more tariffs on members of the bloc.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was responding to Trump’s announcement that starting February, a 10% import tax will be imposed on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his escalating calls for the United States to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland.
“The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July,” Von der Leyen said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “And in politics as in business – a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.”
She vowed that the EU’s response “will be unflinching, united and proportional.”
Trump has insisted the U.S. needs the territory for security reasons against possible threats from China and Russia.
▶ Read more about von der Leyen’s comments
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