In a rambling address at the World Economic Forum, US President Donald Trump doubled down on acquiring Greenland, threatened political rivals and donned the mantle of a misguided energy expert to attack the ‘green new scam’. US President Donald Trump raised the temperature at the frigid Swiss ski resort of Davos on Wednesday, doubling down on his goal of acquiring Greenland and saying prosecutions were looming for people he claims “rigged” the 2020 election. Over the course of an hour and 12 minutes, it was a typical rambling Trump speech: a long list of his imaginary successes – defeating inflation, a tsunami of investment flowing into the US – marked by his many grievances, including calling Fed Chair Jerome Powell “stupid”.
“We are seeking immediate negotiations to acquire Greenland… All the US is asking for is a place called Greenland,” Trump, who seemed tired with laboured breathing at times, told the annual gathering of the world’s economic elite in a televised address. Not long after he concluded his speech, Reuters reported that the European Parliament had decided to suspend its work on a trade deal between the 27-member bloc and the United States, following Trump’s repeated requests to take control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.
Chris Holdsworth, chief investment strategist from Investec Wealth and Investment International noted that althoughPresident Trump ruled out taking Greenland by force, he did repeatedly state that he still wants the US to own it. “Denmark clearly is not on the same page. We can expect further tariff disputes and uncertainty throughout whatever negotiations occur.
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More deeply, questions around the safe haven status of US government debt are likely to resurface. In summary there’s a little less uncertainty but the Greenland issue is still likely to be a source of volatility for the market for the foreseeable future,” Holdsworth said. South Africa wasn’t mentioned at all.
“It seems Greenland is the current top strategic priority and SA is on the back burner (for now at least?). This is not necessarily positive for SA assets,” Holdsworth, who is part of the SA delegation at Davos, observed. He added that if SA had been mentioned, it could have had an impact on SA assets such as the Rand and equity assets, and as such, it’s a better outcome than it could have been.
The US markets opened to an upward trend, just as Trump finished speaking. Trump reiterated that for the US, Greenland was a burning national security issue. “I will not use force” to take Greenland, he added.
“You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember.”
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