“President Trump said the U.S. wouldn’t use force to acquire Greenland and was seeking negotiations on the acquisition of the territory, repeating his claim that only the U.S. is capable of defending it,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Trump: “People thought I would use force, but I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”

“Stephanie Grishan, who served as press secretary during the end of President Donald Trump’s first term, reacted to Trump’s marathon press briefing on Tuesday and offered a warning about the president’s mental health,” Mediaite reports.

Said Grisham: “This presser is bizarre even for him.”

She added: “It’s all the usual rambling, off-topic tales, half-truths, lies, ‘I’ve fixed everything – no one has ever seen anything like it’ stuff… but it’s low-energy and feels like he’s…mentally slipping.”

President Trump told European leaders they can say yes on Greenland, and America will be grateful, or they can say no, and “We will remember,” the New York Times reports.

“As Trump talked about Greenland, the auditorium went silent. Some people audibly gasped as he attacked NATO and said he did not think the alliance would come to the United States’s defense in the future. But for the most part, the audience has nervously listened quietly to to each word of his speech.”

U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer accused President Trump of trying to pressure him over Greenland, insisting that such threats were “completely wrong” and declaring: “I will not yield,” the Financial Times reports.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered some biting words about Denmark, which maintains territorial control over Greenland, after the European country’s pension fund announced it would unwind its investment in U.S. government bonds, CNN reports.

Said Bessent: “Denmark’s investment in US Treasury bonds – like Denmark itself – is irrelevant.”

Jonathan Lemire: “Franklin D. Roosevelt famously illustrated with a simple metaphor the need for a healthy transatlantic alliance. Justifying his decision to lend Great Britain warships and other military supplies in the early days of World War II, Roosevelt likened it to loaning a neighbor a garden hose to put out the fire consuming his house. Sure, Roosevelt charitably wanted to help a neighbor in need. But it was self-interested too; if the neighbor could extinguish the blaze, it wouldn’t spread to FDR’s home. The United States benefited from the friendship—and the buffer—that allies could provide.”

“Today, Donald Trump will fly to Europe. Ukraine is already ablaze. And now the president is ready to set a bunch of new houses on fire.”

“In a 24-hour span in the Swiss Alps, we’re witnessing what future historians might mark as a hinge moment: The people building civilization-altering AI, a prime minister declaring America’s global order dead, and an expansionist, defiant American president all sharing the same tense global stage,” Axios reports.

“It’s hard to overstate the seismic shifts shaking this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos.”

Bloomberg: Trump steps into a transatlantic rift at Davos.

Financial Times: Trump’s “wrecking ball” set to touch down in Davos.

CNN: What are Europe’s options for responding to Trump?

“A small but growing group of Republicans in Congress is expressing openness to President Trump’s increasingly explicit push to acquire Greenland, along with his desire to punish European allies who resist the idea,” the New York Times reports.

“In the days since Mr. Trump began musing openly about taking over the semiautonomous island territory, which is currently controlled by Denmark, many Republican lawmakers have issued vocal warnings against a push to annex Greenland, arguing that it would dangerously divide the United States’ closest allies.”

“But with the president stepping up his threats and showing no sign of backing down, Republicans across the ideological spectrum are increasingly finding ways to defend or justify his threats — or embrace them altogether.”