Europe is heading for an economic cold war with Trump's America over Greenland, writes Andrew Marr
The good news, if there’s any, is that Donald Trump said explicitly he would not use military force to seize the Danish territory.The less good news is that he didn’t back off at all on the principle, insisting that Greenland was part of North America and US territory.Many of us had lazily assumed that Trump would arrive at the Davos Summit in a more emollient mood, ready to give and take.In fact, he was extremely aggressive, about energy, about Western Europe and about Greenland.The emperor was not to be interrupted or gainsayed.It’s hard to be sure what happens next – either the EU, the Danes and we ourselves are going to have to bend the knee and allow Trump to grab Greenland or else it’s economic war.This is the best news Vladimir Putin’s had since the collapse of the USSR.Meanwhile, in London, something significant happened at Prime Minister’s questions today. Keir Starmer, after a year of biting his tongue about Donald Trump declared he would “not yield” to threats by the President.He’s been challenged by Kemi Badenoch about Trump‘s attack on the Chagos Islands deal.The Prime Minister didn’t reply to her about that, at all. But he looked and sounded angrier than I have seen him in the chamber before, and made it thoroughly clear that he believed Trump had been trying to bully him, and that he’d had enough…. where that leads him, and us, it’s hard to say.”________________Andrew Marr is an author, journalist and presenter for LBC.LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk
