DAVOS, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 21: Delegates watch as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks onstage on the World Financial Discussion board (WEF) on January 21, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland.
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Markets and a few European leaders welcomed the information that U.S. President Donald Trump was standing down from imposing additional tariffs on European international locations — however others had been left bewildered.
Trump advised CNBC on Wednesday that he had the “idea of a deal” with NATO Secretary-Normal Mark Rutte, shortly after declaring on Fact Social that he wouldn’t proceed with the levies he threatened on eight European international locations from Feb. 1.
Markets on Thursday rose on the information, however questions stay in regards to the supposed settlement on Greenland.
Because the president did not share particulars of the framework — or who agreed to it — one strategist advised CNBC: “No one’s going to imagine him anymore.”
A ‘deal’ with out a deal
Trump outlined the Greenland settlement in sweeping phrases, casting it as an “final long-term deal” that locks in U.S. nationwide safety and provides entry to “minerals.”
Greenland’s location issues for Arctic army posture, however local weather change is making the island extra accessible — sparking a renewed curiosity in its uncommon earths and different vital mineral reserves.
However Trump didn’t say whether or not Denmark, which is accountable for the island’s protection, or Greenland had signed as much as something.
Rutte advised Fox Information that the concern of Greenland’s possession didn’t come up in his talks with Trump, which had been about Arctic safety as Chinese language and Russian exercise will increase.
Ed Value, senior non-resident fellow at New York College, advised CNBC on Thursday that placing a deal “requires two folks to tango,” describing Trump’s speech on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland, as “a monologue not a dialogue.”
Value additionally mentioned the framework was “the beginning of a course of, not the top,” warning {that a} precedent of bargaining over disputed territories might tempt future makes an attempt elsewhere.
Chinese language state media, in the meantime, urged the European Union on Wednesday to reassess its safety reliance on the U.S. and pursue better “strategic autonomy.”
Trump has “advantaged” China in the long term by signaling that U.S. commitments can swing wildly with political incentives, Value added.
Why Trump blinked: Treasury yields
Robin Brooks, a senior fellow on the Brookings Establishment, mentioned Trump’s toned-down rhetoric had “nothing to do with Europe” and was extra probably pushed by considerations in regards to the current spikes in international bond yields, which jumped on fears of a recent commerce warfare.
Brooks additionally mentioned Europeans had restricted leverage in negotiations with Trump.
“Europeans have, by all accounts, been freeriding on the U.S. safety umbrella. They should spend extra. They’ll,” Brooks mentioned, caveating that almost all international locations, apart from Germany, lack fiscal house. “A whole lot of these international locations haven’t any fiscal firepower in anyway,” he advised CNBC’s “Squawk Field Asia.”
In his Wednesday speech at Davos, Trump acknowledged monetary markets’ discomfort together with his threats over Greenland as he publicly dominated out utilizing pressure to take it for the primary time.
‘The most important taco that you could possibly get’
No matter finally occurs with tariffs, European leaders ought to plan for worst-case outcomes, mentioned David Roche, veteran investor from Quantum Technique.
Trump’s Greenland risk is “the most important ‘taco’ that you could possibly get,” Roche mentioned, referring to the phrase “Trump At all times Chickens Out,” which has come to outline a market technique anticipating the president reneging on his threats.
However Roche mentioned this was changing into an issue — the larger Trump’s risk, the extra allies anticipate him to “march his troops up the hill after which down the hill.”
“What the European Union has discovered is that in the event you resist them, you win,” Roche mentioned. “No one’s going to imagine him anymore.”
