Axios: Trump heads to Davos more aggressive and ambitious than ever

Trump in Davos. January 2020
Photo: CNN

President Trump will depart for Davos on Tuesday feeling more confident than ever in his own power to shape global events and more willing to bully and berate anyone who stands in his way, Axios stresses.

Why it matters: In recent weeks, Trump has shown he's no longer content just dominating the U.S. and the news cycle — he wants to dominate the world.

The big picture: Trump is heading to Switzerland after threatening tariffs on Denmark and seven other NATO allies — all of whom sent small detachments of troops to Greenland — if no deal is reached to hand the island to the U.S. by Feb. 1.

While in Davos, he'll announce he's expanding the remit of his "Board of Peace" for Gaza beyond the enclave, in what some alarmed allies see as an attempt to establish a rival UN Security Council — with Trump holding the only veto.

"The Board of Peace is not going to be limited to Gaza. It's a Board of Peace around the world," a senior U.S. official told Axios.

"The president is focused on our hemisphere first, but he has his eye on the world. I wouldn't say he's fixated on global domination. He's America first. And America is still the world's leader," the official said.

Driving the news: Overnight, Trump posted memes of himself claiming Greenland and Canada, private text messages from French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and fresh messages on why the U.S. must have Greenland.

"The message [in Davos] is how incredible our country is doing," Trump told reporters.

Between the lines: Until recently, U.S. allies expected Trump's main contributions in Davos to be announcing the board for Gaza and signing a reconstruction deal for Ukraine.

Instead, they've found themselves scrambling ahead of his arrival, debating how to contain a crisis over Greenland that threatens to rupture NATO. European officials "had to shred their Ukraine talking points and write new ones on Greenland," a Ukrainian official told Axios.

Trump set the tone for the week when he texted the Norwegian prime minister stating that because he didn't get the Nobel Prize, he'll no longer focus primarily on peace. The U.S. later put the note on official letterhead and sent it to NATO ambassadors, as first reported by PBS.

A senior Norwegian official said Oslo had intended to keep the text exchange private, and was surprised Trump shared it with other countries.

The other side: The Europeans are signaling they're prepared to hit back, setting up what could be a highly contentious week in the Swiss Alps.

EU countries are considering a massive package of retaliatory tariffs. Meanwhile, Denmark is sending additional troops to Greenland.

In conversations on day one at Davos, some attendees expressed skepticism that the Europeans could match Trump punch for punch. "I'm taking the under on European fortitude," one American Davos veteran quipped.

At various panels ahead of Trump's arrival — none of which had anything to do with Arctic security — there were remarks and nervous laughter about the prospect of an American invasion.

The Greenland dispute pushed aside plans to use Davos week to reach understandings between the U.S., Ukraine and the European powers on security guarantees and reconstruction for Ukraine.

A Ukrainian official said a plan for the leaders to sign the "prosperity plan" was scrapped. A U.S. official denied any date had been set and said the plan still needed some work.

The intrigue: Trump signaled a potential softening on his tariff threat on Monday night when he told reporters the countries he was threatening with tariffs had only "sent a few people" to Greenland.

But he later wrote on Truth Social that there was "no going back," posted an image of himself planting an American flag in Greenland, and mocked the U.K. for "planning to give away" one if its own overseas territories, Diego Garcia.

That "act of GREAT STUPIDITY" is "another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired," Trump wrote.

What to watch: The senior U.S. official suggested attendees of the annual gathering of the global elite should prepare to be insulted when Trump takes the podium on Wednesday.

"In the same way that he went to the UN and said, 'You people charge a lot of dues, occupy a bunch of real estate, really don't do anything,' he's going to probably say that about some subset of those at Davos."

"He feels he settled all these conflicts — and, yes, some of them are backsliding — without the UN. Without any real help from them."

As for the Board of Peace, "I suspect he'll infer that it is the foil to the UN," the official said.

U.S. air base in Greenland
Photo: U.S. MoW

The US military has sent aircraft to Greenland’s Pituffik Space Base, as tensions have risen over President Donald Trump’s push to acquire the self-governing Danish territory, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has said.

"North American Aerospace Defense Command aircraft will soon arrive at Pituffik Space Base, Greenland," the joint US-Canadian defence organisation said in a post.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs