Opening Day Of World Economic Forum (WEF) 2026

The WEF Made One Thing Very Clear: If Democrats Win We Are Totally Screwed

Canada

Europe

European Union

Globalization

Leftists

Mark Carney

Matt Walsh

NATO

Opinion

Switzerland

World Economic Forum

President Trump did something extraordinary in Davos. He gave a speech targeting our European allies, telling them that they need to up their game in terms of defense, economics, and their own national sovereignty.
Then he pried a deal away from Denmark with regard to Greenland.
The markets were very concerned about the possibility that President Trump was going to hit all of Europe with these gigantic tariffs based on a desire for sovereignty over all of Greenland.
But that is no longer the case. A deal has been cut.
The really big story here is how the President of the United States is calling on Europe to stand up for itself.
The president said that his goal in saying all of this wasn&#8217;t just to dunk on the Europeans. Obviously, his goal was to revitalize what he called a “precious” culture, shared by Americans and Europeans.
“The explosion of prosperity and conclusion and progress that built the West did not come from our tax cuts,” he stated. “It ultimately came from our very special culture. This is the precious inheritance that America and Europe have in common. We share it. But we have to keep it strong. We have to become stronger, more successful, and more prosperous than ever. We have to defend that culture and rediscover the spirit that lifted the West from the depths of the Dark Ages to the pinnacle of human achievement.”
He also suggested that Europeans have failed themselves in pursuing a green energy-based economy.
When the man&#8217;s right, the man is right.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
The real message the president was there to deliver is that the Europeans ought to be both independent, but also recognize that they are reliant on the United States.
In that vein, he went after Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada. Carney gave a peculiar address with regard to the United States in which he suggested that the era of American dominance was over. And Trump basically said, well, that&#8217;s weird, since if it weren&#8217;t for us, your continent would be a little bit more at risk. We are your defensive shield. We&#8217;re building a golden dome that just by its very nature is going to be defending Canada.
“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way,” Trump said. “They should be grateful also, but they&#8217;re not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn&#8217;t so grateful. They should be grateful that Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
The president also articulated the favorite line of those of us on the Right, which is that if it had not been for the United States’ involvement in Europe, everyone would be speaking German and Japanese.
“The problem with them, though, is that we&#8217;ll be there for them 100%,” he said. “But I&#8217;m not sure that they&#8217;d be there for us if we gave them the call.”
You can see why the Europeans are feeling a bit peevish right now.
We&#8217;ll have to see how they react to everything that&#8217;s going on. Are we again entering a period of a multipolar world order, or is the president just flexing American muscles a little bit more than usual in an attempt to get everybody back on the same pro-America, pro-Western page? That remains a bit of an open question.
All of this ties into what the broader American orientation is toward the world. Is it America First, or is it America Alone? Is it a multipolar world order, or is it an American-led world order where we are more muscular in pursuit of our own interests, and we expect more from our allies in helping us out with those interests?
That remains the big question coming out of Davos. It was the big question going in.
I&#8217;m not sure that the question has been fully answered at this point in time.

U.S. President Trump Attends World Economic Forum In Davos

Trump’s Davos Doctrine: A Muscular Reassertion Of The West

Trump's Davos Doctrine: A Muscular Reassertion Of The West

Davos

Donald Trump

Energy

Shortly after a private meeting with President Donald Trump in Davos on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walked out onto the World Economic Forum stage and blasted European leaders for trying to &#8220;change&#8221; Trump instead of focusing on defending themselves from global threats such as Russia and China.
Zelensky <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_SohZrJOKk">said</a> that Europe seems to be stuck in &#8220;Groundhog Day,&#8221; referring to the 1993 film featuring Bill Murray. He argued that European powers have been repeating the same actions &#8220;for weeks, months, and of course, for years,&#8221; adding, &#8220;Every forum like this one proves it.&#8221;
&#8220;Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words, &#8216;Europe needs to know how to defend itself.&#8217; A year has passed, and nothing has changed,&#8221; Zelensky said.
“Instead of taking the lead in defending freedom worldwide, especially when America’s focus shifts elsewhere, Europe looks lost trying to convince the U.S. president to change,” the Ukrainian president continued, adding, &#8220;Europe still feels more like geography, history, a tradition, not a real political force, not a great power.&#8221;
Zelensky highlighted Trump&#8217;s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and America&#8217;s seizure of sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela and asked why European powers could not do the same with Russian oil tankers.
&#8220;Why can President Trump stop tankers from the shadow fleet and seize oil, but Europe doesn&#8217;t?&#8221; Zelensky asked. &#8220;Russian oil is being transported right along European shores. That oil funds the war against Ukraine. That oil helps destabilize Europe.&#8221;
Zelensky also mentioned Trump&#8217;s push for Greenland and criticized Europe&#8217;s response to the issue. Trump&#8217;s ramped-up effort to acquire Greenland has been a major focus of this year&#8217;s World Economic Forum as European leaders scramble to respond to the president&#8217;s plan. Many NATO countries deployed a small contingent of troops to Greenland to conduct military exercises as Trump discussed annexing the territory.
Zelensky slammed European leaders over the move.
“If you send 30 or 40 soldiers to Greenland, what is that for?&#8221; he asked. &#8220;What message does it send? What’s the message to Putin? To China? And even more importantly, what message does it send to Denmark? You either declare that European bases will protect the region from Russia and China &#8230; or you risk not being taken seriously, because 30 or 40 soldiers will not protect anything.”
The Ukrainian president then called on European countries to build up their fighting forces, and suggested that NATO is too reliant on the United States.
&#8220;Europe needs united armed forces that can truly defend Europe,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Today, Europe relies only on the belief that if danger comes, NATO will act, but no one has really seen the alliance in action.&#8221;
&#8220;Right now, NATO exists thanks to the belief that the United States will act, that it will not stand aside and will help,&#8221; Zelensky continued. &#8220;But what if it doesn&#8217;t?&#8221;

Volodymyr Zelensky

Zelensky Rips Europe For Trying To ‘Change’ Trump Instead Of Defending Itself Against Global Threats

U.S.

Ukraine

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that under the framework of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-framework-of-future-greenland-deal-is-in-place-after-very-productive-meeting?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+%E2%80%98Framework%E2%80%99+Of+Future+Greenland+Deal+Is+In+Place+After+%E2%80%98Very+Productive+Meeting%E2%80%99">plan</a> currently being negotiated between his administration and NATO, the United States would be given &#8220;total access&#8221; to Greenland &#8220;at no cost.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://x.com/FoxBusiness/status/2014317783996072169">told</a> Fox Business that under the proposal, the United States is &#8220;getting everything we want at no cost.&#8221; The president said that Greenland is vital for U.S. national security and will be used for &#8220;a piece&#8221; of his &#8220;Golden Dome&#8221; missile defense system.
&#8220;Everything comes over Greenland. If the bad guys start shooting, it comes over Greenland,&#8221; he said, adding, &#8220;It&#8217;s pretty invaluable.&#8221;
&#8220;So what are we talking about, an acquisition of Greenland? Are you going to pay for it?&#8221; asked Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.
&#8220;It&#8217;s really being negotiated now, the details of it,&#8221; Trump replied. &#8220;But, essentially, it&#8217;s total access. There&#8217;s no end. There&#8217;s no time limit.&#8221;
Trump spoke to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Davos on Wednesday and announced shortly after the meeting that they worked out a &#8220;framework&#8221; for a deal on Greenland. Rutte confirmed that the United States and NATO have made significant progress toward securing an agreement covering the large territory that Denmark oversees. Rutte <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nato-chief-trump-greenland-framework-demands-expanded-european-arctic-role?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=NATO+Chief%3A+Trump+Greenland+Framework+Demands+Expanded+European+Arctic+Role">said</a> on Thursday that, as part of the deal, NATO allies will have to increase their military presence in the Arctic region.
It remains unclear if Greenland and Denmark support the deal currently under negotiation. Danish leaders have strongly opposed Trump&#8217;s push to acquire the territory, while Greenlandic leaders have said they don&#8217;t want to become part of the United States.
Trump has been pushing for the United States to acquire Greenland since returning to the White House last January, and he has increased pressure on Greenland, Denmark, and other European nations over the issue in recent weeks. The president believes that Greenland is essential for U.S. national security, arguing that China and Russia will take over the territory if the United States doesn&#8217;t.
Trump told Bartiromo on Thursday that it&#8217;s still possible that the United States will end up controlling Greenland. During his speech at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, Trump said he would not use military force to annex the territory.
While Trump says national security is the main reason for his desire to acquire Greenland, rare-earth minerals also play a role in his push. Rare-earth minerals were also part of the framework agreement with NATO, the president said. Trump&#8217;s U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, who began in the administration as the president&#8217;s national security adviser, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/greenland-important-us-says-trumps-pick-national-security-adviser-2025-01-09/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last January that the United States needed Greenland for its &#8220;critical minerals&#8221; as well as national security.
Greenland holds large deposits of rare earth minerals that could play a key role in America&#8217;s push to ramp up rare earth mining and end its dependence on China. But Greenland&#8217;s underdeveloped tundra would be challenging to mine for minerals, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5697708-greenland-trump-minerals-rare-earths-denmark-nato/">reported</a>.
“Everyone talks about the minerals. There’s so many,” Trump said on Wednesday. “There’s no such thing as rare earth. There’s rare processing. But there’s so much rare earth. And to get to this rare earth, you got to go through hundreds of feet of ice. That’s not the reason we need it. We need it for strategic national security and international security.”

Trump Says U.S. Would Gain ‘Total Access’ To Greenland ‘At No Cost’ Under Proposed Plan

Greenland

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that European nations will have to increase their military presence in the Arctic region as part of a Greenland deal being negotiated by President Donald Trump.
Rutte told Reuters at the World Economic Forum that, following his Wednesday meeting with Trump, NATO must work through a plan to increase security around Greenland.
&#8220;I have no doubt we can do this quite fast. Certainly I would hope for 2026, I hope even early in 2026,&#8221; Rutte said.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-framework-of-future-greenland-deal-is-in-place-after-very-productive-meeting?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+%E2%80%98Framework%E2%80%99+Of+Future+Greenland+Deal+Is+In+Place+After+%E2%80%98Very+Productive+Meeting%E2%80%99">said</a> on Wednesday that NATO and the United States “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland” after a “very productive meeting” with Rutte. The president added that he would suspend the additional tariffs he planned to impose on European countries that opposed his push to acquire Greenland.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a long-term deal. It&#8217;s the ultimate long-term deal,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/2014072620799422963">told</a> reporters. &#8220;And I think it puts everybody in a really good position, especially as it pertains to security and minerals and everything else.&#8221; He added that there would be &#8220;no time limit&#8221; on the deal, saying, &#8220;It&#8217;s forever.&#8221;
Greenland&#8217;s rare earth minerals were also part of the framework agreement, the president said. Trump said on Wednesday, however, that rare earth minerals aren&#8217;t the main reason he wants the territory.
&#8220;Everyone talks about the minerals. There’s so many,” Trump <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/22/business/greenland-rare-earth-minerals-trump">said</a> in Davos. “There’s no such thing as rare earth. There’s rare processing. But there’s so much rare earth. And to get to this rare earth, you got to go through hundreds of feet of ice. That’s not the reason we need it. We need it for strategic national security and international security.”
Trump has argued that the United States needs to take control of Greenland before China or Russia invades the territory. During his speech in Davos on Wednesday, Trump said he would not use military force to acquire Greenland, but added that he wanted negotiations to begin immediately.
Asked if NATO allies could trust Trump, Rutte replied, &#8220;You can always take Donald Trump at his word.&#8221;
The framework deal agreed upon by Trump and Rutte is not a finalized agreement and will only kickstart serious negotiations on Greenland, according to Trump. The president did not say whether Greenland or Denmark, which oversees the semi-autonomous territory, agreed to the framework deal.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the talks moved forward on Wednesday.
&#8220;It is still a difficult and serious situation, but progress has also been made in the sense that we have now got things where they need to be. Namely that we can discuss how we promote common security in the Arctic region,&#8221; Frederiksen said.
Trump suggested that his plan for the &#8220;Golden Dome&#8221; missile defense system was also a significant point of the discussions with NATO on Greenland.
&#8220;Further information will be made available as discussions progress,” Trump added. “Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and various others, as needed, will be responsible for the negotiations — They will report directly to me.&#8221;

TOPSHOT-SWITZERLAND-US-POLITICS-ECONOMY-DIPLOMACY

NATO Chief: Trump Greenland Framework Demands Expanded European Arctic Role

Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, with the S&amp;P 500 posting its biggest one-day percentage gain in two months, as investors were buoyed by news that a framework for an agreement on Greenland had been reached and the possibility of new U.S. tariffs on European allies had been averted.
Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite also enjoyed milestone days, gaining the most in percentage terms since January 5 and December 19, respectively.
The advances stood in stark contrast to the previous day&#8217;s selloff, which had been the worst daily performance by all three benchmarks since October 10, and reflected U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s use of tariff threats to press his agenda before pivoting once the policy victory could be declared.
&#8220;We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,&#8221; Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. &#8220;Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.&#8221;
Wall Street benchmarks had been trading in positive territory at the time of the announcement, but soared in its wake as investors cheered the aversion of a potential new tariff war over the future of Greenland.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think who owns Greenland has any immediate impact on anything, in terms of economics,&#8221; said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy &amp; research at Glenmede.
&#8220;What is the economic impact is whether we all start imposing tariffs on each other,&#8221; he added.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 588.64 points, or 1.21%, to 49,077.23, the S&amp;P 500 gained 78.76 points, or 1.16%, to 6,875.62, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 270.50 points, or 1.18%, to 23,224.83.
Before the mid-afternoon Greenland announcement, Wall Street had been broadly positive, as investors responded to Tuesday&#8217;s bruising selloff. However, while initial momentum had propelled benchmarks more than 1% higher, this energy had been ebbing by early afternoon.
While light on details, Trump&#8217;s announcement allowed markets to focus on underlying strengths within the U.S. economy, including strong earnings from banks.
The latest wave of results from lenders, including some of the largest superregional names, helped send the regional banking index soaring 4.7% to its highest close since November 2024.
Citizens Financial Group surged 7.1% to a record closing high, on the back of a 31.7% jump in quarterly profit. Truist Financial Corp climbed 1.8% after recording higher interest income and fees from investment banking.
All the S&amp;P 500 subsectors rose, led by energy. It was buoyed by Halliburton, which gained 4.1% after earnings beat estimates, while EQT Corp and Expand Energy advanced 6.5% and 4.5% respectively, as natural gas prices hit a six-week high on cold weather.
United Airlines rose 2.2% after the carrier issued an upbeat outlook for the current quarter and the full year. Other airlines benefited from the positive sentiment, with Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Southwest all gaining between 1.1% and 2.4%.
Meanwhile, Netflix dropped 2.2% after reporting a muted outlook in its latest earnings. The streaming giant&#8217;s stock was also weighed by a pause in share buybacks to help fund the purchase of Warner Bros Discovery&#8217;s studio and streaming businesses.
Kraft Heinz fell 5.7% after a regulatory filing showed Berkshire Hathaway may shed its 27.5% stake in the consumer company.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru and David French in New York; Additional reporting by Johann M Cherian; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shilpi Majumdar)

FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York

Wall Street Ends Higher As Investors Cheer Greenland Framework Deal, Averted Tariffs

Tariffs

Wall Street

LIVE UPDATES: Trump Says He ‘Won’t Use Force’ To Acquire Greenland at World Economic Forum

speech

President Donald Trump arrived in Switzerland on Wednesday, just a few hours before he was scheduled to deliver a speech at the World Economic Forum that is expected to touch on Greenland and the future of Venezuela. 
Trump landed in Zurich before boarding a helicopter to Davos, where he is set to give a speech at 8:30 am EST. During his visit, Trump is also expected to meet with other foreign leaders and attend a business lunch. 
“I believe it will be very successful, the trip. The country’s never done better.  We have 18 trillion dollars plus coming in,” Trump said before leaving Tuesday night. “We&#8217;ve never had anything like it, and no country has had anything like it. Prices are way down.  Gasoline now is $1.99 in a lot of places. And frankly, nobody&#8217;s seen anything like this. So it&#8217;s really good, but this will be an interesting trip.  I have no idea what&#8217;s going to happen, but you are well represented.”
Traveling with Trump to Davos are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett, according to the White House. 
Trump arrived later than planned in Zurich after his first flight had to return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland due to an electrical issue. The problem was reportedly minor, but the White House decided to switch planes out of an abundance of caution, Leavitt told reporters. 
Trump’s comments on Greenland, along with threats to impose tariffs on countries that block an American acquisition, have drawn much criticism from European leaders ahead of his speech.
“I will not yield,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01/21/us/trump-davos-greenland-news">said</a> British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “Britain will not yield on our principles and values about the future of Greenland under threats of tariffs.”
But NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the main focus should be on the Russia-Ukraine War, not Greenland. 
“The risk here is that we focus, of course, on Greenland, because we have to make sure that issue gets solved in an amicable way,” he said. “But the main issue is not Greenland. Now, the main issue is Ukraine. I’m also a little bit worried that we might drop the ball focusing so much on these other issues.”
Trump said Tuesday that he had &#8220;a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland&#8221; and that &#8220;things are going to work out pretty well.&#8221;

Trump Arrives In Switzerland, Set To Confront Global Leaders At Davos

President Donald Trump said early Tuesday morning that he plans to meet with &#8220;various parties&#8221; to discuss the future of Greenland while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this week.
Trump said he spoke with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte over the phone and stressed the importance of the United States acquiring Greenland. The president has not yet met in person with leaders from Greenland, Denmark, or other European allies to discuss his push to take over the Arctic territory.
&#8220;I had a very good telephone call with Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, concerning Greenland. I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland. As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115925766187001811">wrote</a> on Truth Social.
&#8220;There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;The United States of America is the most powerful Country anywhere on the Globe, by far. Much of the reason for this is a rebuilding of our Military during my First Term, which rebuilding continues at even more expedited pace. We are the only POWER that can ensure PEACE throughout the World — And it is done, quite simply, through STRENGTH!&#8221;
Trump also <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115926107400617491">shared</a> a screenshot of a text message he received from Rutte, in which the NATO secretary general praised Trump for his work in securing a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/19/syria-declares-victory-ceasefire-kurdish-led-force">ceasefire</a> in Syria and promised to find &#8220;a way forward on Greenland.&#8221;
&#8220;Mr. President, dear Donald — what you accomplished in Syria today is incredible. I will use my media engagements in Davos to highlight your work there, in Gaza, and in Ukraine,&#8221; Rutte added in the message. &#8220;I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland. Can&#8217;t wait to see you. Yours, Mark.&#8221;
Rutte&#8217;s friendly message to Trump comes as America&#8217;s European allies try to figure out how to respond to Trump&#8217;s push to control Greenland, a plan Europe has strongly denounced. Since Trump has ramped up his effort to acquire Greenland, NATO nations deployed troops to the territory last week for a military exercise.
Over the weekend, Trump announced that he would impose additional tariffs on eight European nations that have opposed his Greenland push. The additional tariffs are set to take effect on February 1 and will apply to imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland.
Trump also shared a screenshot of a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115925848634299232">message</a> from French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. In the message, Macron tells Trump, &#8220;I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland. Let us try to build great things.&#8221; Macron then suggested holding a meeting in Paris between the Group of 7 countries on Thursday, adding that he could also invite leaders from Ukraine, Denmark, Syria, and Russia.
Trump was upset with Macron on Tuesday after the French president rejected an offer to sit on Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Board of Peace&#8221; overseeing Gaza. Macron argued that Trump&#8217;s board &#8220;goes beyond the framework of Gaza and raises serious questions, in particular with respect to the principles and structure of the United Nations, which cannot be called into question.”
In response, Trump <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/20/trump-threatens-200percent-tariff-on-french-wines-and-champagnes-.html">said</a> he might impose a 200% tariff on French wines.
“Well, nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon,” Trump said of Macron. “So you know, that’s all right. What I’ll do is, if they feel like [being] hostile, I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join. But he doesn’t have to join.”

Mark Rutte, Donald Trump

Trump To Meet With NATO Chief On Greenland: ‘There Can Be No Going Back’

Emmanuel Macron

There has been a clamor among some on the American Right for the United States to pull out of NATO, given Europe’s reflexively adversarial response to Trump’s Greenland saber-rattling. Whether we should remain in an alliance formed in a very different world back in 1949 is a question President Trump first raised during his initial term. The question actually has more merit than one might think at first blush.
One must ask what exactly NATO’s raison d’être was to begin with. It is difficult, eighty years on, to recall just how much of a mess Europe was at the time. Much of the continent had been razed by the most lethal of its many internecine conflicts. Europe was no longer at war, but it was not exactly at peace either. Stalin — a dictator with as much, if not more, innocent blood on his hands than Hitler — had advanced his Red Army all the way through Poland, then-Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and half of Germany. That Soviet presence was massive: nearly ten million infantry backed by tens of thousands of tanks and aircraft. By 1945, the Red Army had become a military colossus that had just annihilated the most professional army in the world.
Given this looming threat just over the horizon, by 1949 Western Europe needed to band together to offer a deterrent to Stalin’s hegemony. And given the circumstances, the only military body capable of giving this new North Atlantic Treaty Organization its muscle was, of course, the U.S. Armed Forces. While Western Europe was rebuilt under the auspices of the Marshall Plan, American troops, armor, and aircraft kept the Soviets at bay. This mission was performed successfully all the way to 1991, when the Soviet Union — the very threat NATO was created to contain — abruptly collapsed.
That was 35 years ago. And yet NATO did not ride off into the sunset with its mission accomplished. Instead, it continued to expand, adding 16 new nations — each creeping closer and closer to an increasingly alarmed Russia (a country that suffered roughly 25 million dead repelling the last Western invaders from its soil).
But why the steady eastward expansion? Some NATO supporters argue that Putin’s resurgence and his aggression in Ukraine are answer enough.
But Ukraine and Russia share a convoluted history. Ukraine has long been contested land, where its story and Russia’s overlap in a region that has seen over seven hundred conflicts since the fall of Rome. This is not the first time war has raged from Crimea to the Donbas. Nor will it be the last. There is no reason for a non-Ukrainian to die fighting for that territory.
In fact, the only credible reason to continue our involvement in NATO is if Putin’s Russia poses the same danger as Stalin’s USSR once did. But today’s Russian military is not the Red Army of 1945 in which anywhere from 30 to 35% of its personnel were non-Russians (including 20% Ukrainians). And today Russia is demographically dying. Between 1990 and now—owing to the breakup of the Soviet Union, low birth rates, emigration, and early mortality often linked to alcoholism—Russia’s population has shrunk by roughly three to five million; that is a around a 2 to 4% decline. Over that same period, the U.S. population grew by more than 95 million, or roughly 38%. Even without the United States, the EU today has roughly four times Russia’s population. History shows that in modern war, population is often the best predictor of who prevails in a protracted struggle.
Russia’s economy is both small and oil-dependent. It has been called the world’s largest gas station for a reason. Anywhere from 20 to 30% of its economy depends on crude oil sales, depending on the year and market conditions — making it extremely vulnerable to sanctions or blockades. As it stands, Russia’s entire economy is smaller than that of three American states.
Speaking of economies, since NATO’s establishment, the GDP of EU nations has grown from barely $2.5 trillion to as high as $23 trillion today, an increase of more than 800%. This prompts the obvious question: if these nations have grown so rich, why do they still need us as if they were clearing rubble out of Cologne?
In other words, whether one agrees with leaving NATO or not, Trump’s re-evaluation of an alliance nearing the end of its eighth decade is not grounded in anti-EU whimsy, but in a classic cost-benefit analysis of its service to American interests.
Polls show that while only about 15% of Americans favor leaving NATO, as many as 30% of European residents believe the United States should reduce or end its role in Europe’s defense. This is ironic. If the same Europeans who love to hold up their model social-welfare systems — especially their “free” health care — understood how much of those systems are underwritten by the American taxpayer, they might take a less belligerent view toward one of their primary health care providers.
<div id="attachment_1030021" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1030021" class="size-large wp-image-1030021" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-864x576.jpg" alt="GEILENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 13: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Hendrik Wuest, dressed with flight jackets, stand in front of an E-3A AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) airplane while visiting the NATO Geilenkirchen Air Base on November 13, 2025 in Geilenkirchen, Germany. The base is the headquarters of the NATO Airborne Early Warning &amp; Control Force (NAEW&amp;CF). (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Andreas Rentz/Getty Images</div>
What do I mean by this?
Take a look at the wealthiest EU nation — and the one with the most violent history with Russia — Germany. Germany currently spends roughly 2% of its €5 trillion GDP on defense, or about €100 billion annually. At the same time, it spends roughly ten to 12% of GDP on health care — around €500 billion per year. Estimates suggest that if American soldiers and airmen withdrew and Germany were left to fend for itself, Berlin would need to raise defense spending to as much as 4% of GDP. That means an additional €90–100 billion every year. That money has to come from somewhere. And since health care is the largest pool of discretionary spending (unless Berlin plans on raiding pensions), that is where it would most likely be found. A full American withdrawal would require cutting Germany’s health care system by at least 20%.
The consequences would be catastrophic. Growth spending would slow, wait times would balloon into rationing, co-pays and supplemental costs would rise, hospital consolidations would reduce access to emergency and specialized care, benefits would shrink, staffing shortages would worsen, and zero-cost access would disappear. Setting aside health outcomes, the social upheaval in a country accustomed to expansive care at minimal personal cost would be acute — and politically devastating for any party responsible.
And Germany is only one nation. If the entire EU had to raise defense spending to 4% to fill the void left by an American departure, it would require roughly €340 billion more per year — again, about 20% of total EU health care spending. Even partial offsets would place ten to 20% pressure on health budgets — unless already sky-high taxes rose further. Suddenly, the EU’s vaunted “free” health care system would be anything but.
Put more bluntly, NATO is not merely a security alliance — it is a massive American taxpayer-funded subsidy for Europe’s welfare state. That is the dirty little secret no one in Brussels wants to discuss. Every time a German walks into a “free” clinic or a Frenchman is wheeled into an operating room, roughly one euro in five is effectively paid by you and me. NATO — at least for its original Western democracies — needs the United States not to defend borders it could fund itself, but to prop up welfare systems already straining under their own weight.
There is a famous story in business lore about accounting wunderkind Harry Sonneborn, who told McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc that the real value of his restaurants was not the thin margins on hamburgers, but the land beneath them. “You’re not in the hamburger business,” he said. “You’re in the real estate business.”
In the same way, American contributions to NATO are not primarily about Europe’s defense. They allow European capital to be freed from defense spending — a burden borne by American taxpayers — and redirected toward social welfare. So when your taxes go to NATO, an alliance originally created to defend Europeans from other Europeans, you are not in the continental defense business. You are in the health care business. Just not for yourself. You are providing it for wealthy Germans, French, Brits, and Scandinavians who understand exactly how fragile their welfare systems are — and how quickly they would collapse if America walked away. After all, it is easy to pay for both guns and butter when someone else largely pays for the guns. It is quite another thing to foot the bill for both.
More the suckers us.
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Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, The Daily Wire, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">books</a>. You can also follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Leaders Gather For ‘Coalition Of The Willing’ Meeting In France

NATO’s Dirty Little Secret

Germany

Health Care

Russia

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that acquiring Greenland is “essential” to U.S. national security and that an impending “fight for the Arctic” is real.
During an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker asked Bessent if President Trump was simply using Greenland as a negotiating tactic or if he is truly intent on “annexing” the territory.
“President Trump strongly believes that we cannot outsource our security because … let me tell you what will happen. And it might not be next year, might not be in five years, but down the road, this fight for the Arctic is real,” Bessent began.
The secretary noted that if there were an attack on Greenland, the U.S. would be dragged in anyway due to “NATO guarantees.”
“Make it part of the United States, and there will not be a conflict,” he said. “Because the United States right now, we are the hottest country in the world; we are the strongest country in the world. Europeans project weakness; U.S. projects strength.”
After Welker noted that Denmark says “Greenland is not for sale,” Bessent responded that “for over a century, American presidents have wanted to acquire Greenland, and what we can see is that Greenland is essential to the U.S. national security.”
“We&#8217;re building the Golden Dome, the missile system. President Trump is looking — is being strategic. He&#8217;s looking beyond this year. He&#8217;s looking beyond next year to what could happen for a battle in the Arctic,” Bessent added. “We are not going to outsource our national security. We are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to other countries.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨 JUST IN: Sec. Scott Bessent says the weak Europeans MUST hand over Greenland to President Trump
&#8220;The fight for the arctic IS REAL! [Make] it part of the US, and there won&#8217;t be conflict!&#8221;
&#8220;Europe projects WEAKNESS. The US projects STRENGTH!&#8221; 🔥🔥🔥<a href="https://t.co/ObLneRRJTI">pic.twitter.com/ObLneRRJTI</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2012896637950034217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The secretary then reminded Welker that during Trump’s first term, he warned Europe against building the second Nord Stream pipeline and continuing to rely on Russian oil, and “guess what is funding Russia&#8217;s efforts against Ukraine? European purchases of Russian oil.&#8221;
President trump has been continuing to ratchet up the pressure on Europe in his pursuit of Greenland.
On Saturday, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-raises-pressure-for-greenland-purchase-hits-8-nations-with-tariffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed to implement 10% tariffs</a> on eight European nations until Denmark allows a sale, which Trump said is vital for the sake of “world peace.”
In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump said, starting February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland will be charged a 10% tariff “on any and all goods sent to the United States of America.”
The tariff, he said, will spike to 25% by June 1, and will remain in place until “a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.”
Amanda Prestigiacomo contributed to this piece.

President Trump Signs Executive Order In The Oval Office

Bessent Says ‘Fight For The Arctic Is Real,’ Greenland ‘Essential’ To National Security

Denmark

Global Politics

Scott Bessent

Trump Administration

World

Europe’s weakness is no longer just Europe’s problem; it is the West’s crisis. For decades, the continent has drifted into complacency, retreating from free markets, hollowing out its militaries, and outsourcing its security to Washington. What began as integration hardened into dependency. The result is a Europe that is economically stagnant, strategically vulnerable, and increasingly unsure of its own identity.
President Trump’s recently released National Security Strategy and the National Defense Authorization Act are the first major American documents in a generation that speak to Europe not as a ward, but as an adult. They state, in effect, that the West cannot survive if its largest democratic bloc insists on remaining structurally weak. America will not abandon Europe, but it will no longer indulge Europe’s illusions. The ball is now in Europe’s court.
Trump’s statecraft is often misdescribed as improvisation. In reality, a Trump Doctrine of strategic sovereignty has emerged. Its core is simple: no nation is entitled to protection from the United States unless it actively contributes to collective security; coalitions are built on shared interests and values, not on inertia; and the West is worth preserving. Once the United States and Europe shared these beliefs, and their alliance was strong on this basis.
This abandons the fantasy of a self-enforcing “rules-based order.” Russia’s attack on Georgia or Ukraine, and other similar powers’ attacks on other weaker countries, have repeatedly shown that there is no universally accepted rules-based order. The simple, stubborn fact is that order is made and maintained by sovereign states that possess power, will, and clarity of purpose. Trump’s approach replaces the old habit of open-ended guarantees with a “balance of sovereigns”: the United States will remain the preeminent Western power, but its allies must become genuine pillars, not permanent dependents, to keep the balance of power in the West and keep at bay geopolitical adversaries that understand solely strength.
Trump has already done more to weaken the Russia-China-Iran-North Korea axis than his predecessor. Trump’s pressure on Moscow has been more consequential than Joe Biden’s. By pushing NATO allies to raise defense spending, by imposing secondary measures that hit Russian oil revenues, and by brokering peace in the Caucasus, Trump has constrained Russia’s maneuvering space.
Iran, once emboldened by Western appeasement, is now reeling. Israeli and American strikes have gutted its nuclear and military infrastructure. Combined with the Abraham Accords and the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement, the Middle East has been reshaped in ways that keep Russia out and leave Tehran increasingly isolated. Iran’s proxies are weakened, its economy strangled, and its strategic depth reduced.
The updated Monroe Doctrine has likewise kept China out of the Western Hemisphere. Beijing’s attempts to buy strategic assets and political influence in Latin America have been blocked or rolled back, while Venezuela’s dictator is now under arrest, with his regime destabilized. Trump’s declarations about the Panama Canal and Greenland should be seen as part of this larger doctrine.
Taken together, these moves have fractured the “unholy alliance” of America’s adversaries. Europe should take note: Trump has shown that strength and clarity can weaken adversaries far more effectively than platitudes and half-measures. The United States is doing its part to reshape the global balance. The question is whether Europe will do its part to reshape itself.
Security begins with production. Europe’s retreat from free-market dynamism has hollowed out its competitiveness. While Trump has pursued reindustrialization, deregulation, near-shoring, and energy abundance in the United States, Europe has doubled down on regulatory maximalism and green utopianism — policies that have driven factories, capital, and talent elsewhere.
A continent that once powered the Industrial Revolution now tries to regulate its way into relevance. High taxes, rigid labor markets, and hostility to conventional and nuclear energy have produced dependence on Russian gas, Chinese supply chains, and American defense spending. There is no single European entity in the top 10 biggest companies, startups, or AI firms, because the European instinct has become “regulate before even creating”. 
Real recovery will not come from new Brussels programs, but from unleashing the energy and initiative of millions of individuals and families who are now trapped under layers of taxation, bureaucracy, and paternalism. Europe does not lack talent; it lacks permission to use it.
Trump’s doctrine treats Europe’s stagnation not as an internal matter, but as a strategic liability. Economic weakness means underfunded militaries, brittle societies, and a politics increasingly tempted by accommodation with authoritarian suppliers of energy and credit. A Europe that cannot sustain industry will not sustain deterrence.
If Europe wants to be something other than a museum of past greatness, it must rediscover growth: lower and simpler taxes, domestic energy, and a serious commitment to frontier technologies. Otherwise, the center of gravity of the democratic world will keep shifting from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific, not by American design but by European default.
Trump’s strategy does something European elites have avoided for years: it links power to identity. It speaks of restoring the West’s “civilizational self-confidence” and calls on the nations of the free world to defend their histories, cultures, and borders.
This is not nostalgia. It is strategic clarity. A society that doubts its right to exist cannot project power. A civilization that treats its past as a moral burden will not endure the costs of defense, child-rearing, or long-term investment.
For too long, influential European institutions have treated national identity as suspect, the family as optional, borders as administrative details, and free speech as a negotiable privilege. The result is fragmentation: uncontrolled migration, parallel societies, and cultural self-censorship. In such a context, phrases like “strategic autonomy” are empty. Autonomy presupposes cohesion. 
Trump’s message is that the West is not an NGO; it is a civilization. The President does not seek American domination of Europe. He seeks equilibrium. America First does not mean America Alone; it means an America strong enough to lead, partnered with European allies strong enough to matter. For Europe, that means three things: (a) Rearmament as an act of self-respect, not of deference to Washington. A Europe that cannot field serious forces from the Baltic to the Mediterranean is not “pacifist”; it is strategically unserious. (b) Reindustrialization and energy realism. A continent that shuts down reliable power without viable alternatives, and that drives industry offshore, will find its foreign policy constrained by whoever keeps its lights on. (c) Civilizational recovery. Europe must stop apologizing for its existence. Its nations, cultures and Judeo-Christian roots are not obstacles to the future; they are the only basis on which a free future can be built.
Trump has laid out a doctrine that treats Europe not as a client but as a potential equal. The question is whether Europe will seize this moment or shrink from it.  The United States has made its choice: strength, sovereignty, and renewed Western leadership. If Europe fails to rise, the West will fall, not because America abandoned it, but because Europe abandoned itself.
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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Nikola Kedhi is the Executive Director of the Albanian Conservative Institute and a contributor to various media such as the Daily Wire, Fox News, Newsweek, the Daily Signal, Newsmax, and others. Kedhi is also a co-author of the Constitution of Conservative Values, the official Doctrine of the Democratic Party of Albania. He can be reached on Twitter: @nikedhi95 and on his Substack.</div>
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

European Leaders Join Ukrainian President Zelensky For White House Meeting With Trump

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