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Trump to attend the forum this week
National security advisers to Western leaders are meeting in Davos on Monday afternoon, as the World Economic Forum takes place from January 19 to 23. The discussions were initially expected to focus on Ukraine and ways to end the war, but the agenda was revised to allow time to address the situation surrounding Greenland, the Financial Times reports, citing sources.
According to the report, European officials are considering imposing tariffs worth €93 billion on the United States and restricting US companies’ access to the EU market in response to threats from President Donald Trump. He is planning to impose his own tariffs on allies that do not support his idea of bringing Greenland under US control. European officials hope that retaliatory measures would increase bipartisan pressure on Trump and force him to back down.
As the FT notes, the European move “marks the most serious crisis in transatlantic relations in decades.” Officials say the countermeasures are intended to give European leaders leverage in meetings with the US president in Davos, which Trump plans to attend on Wednesday and Thursday.
“This is now a situation that no longer allows for compromise, because we cannot hand over Greenland,” one European official said.
Earlier, European leaders had planned to meet with Trump in Davos to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine. It was also reported that the leaders of Ukraine and the United States were planning to sign an economic recovery agreement during the World Economic Forum, envisaging around $800 billion in investment over ten years.
