Trump escalates the tone against Europe, and the markets react

All this, just hours before he arrives in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. Trump announced that he is preparing to discuss the fate of the Arctic island during the convention and to launch a “Peace Council” that will compete with the United Nations, and oversee the Gaza reconstruction plan devised by the American administration.

The multitude of developments and the escalation of statements had a direct impact on the global markets, when the prices of gold and silver once again broke historical records, and continued the sharp increases recorded from the beginning of the week. According to analysts, this reflects the increase in uncertainty about the global economy and the search for a safe haven.

Sharp declines of around 1.5% were recorded in European stock markets, and in the US trading opened with a 1.5% drop in the leading indexes. At the same time, the dollar weakened by almost a percent against the euro against the background of what appears to be a renewal of the transatlantic trade war. The euro is on its way to its best week against the dollar since June, according to the latest data. The Swiss franc also recorded an increase of 1.6% against the dollar in the last two days, while investors Trying to escape the dollar.

Trump: “Nobody wants Macron anyway”

The global headlines in Europe were captured by the new front opened by Trump early this morning in front of French President Macron. The French president officially refused to join the “Peace Council”, the international body that Trump is trying to establish, first as a body to oversee what is happening in Gaza and then for other tasks. When asked about this by reporters, Trump said that “nobody wants him anyway – he doesn’t have much time left.” Macron is breaking unpopularity records in France, and this is his second and last term, ahead of the presidential elections to be held in the spring of 2027. Trump then threatened to “impose 200% tariffs on champagne and French wines – and then he will join”.

After the reports of his words, Trump published a text message he received from the French president, against all the rules of protocol, in which Macron offers him to convene a special summit of the G7 countries in Paris on Thursday, after the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. “We are completely in agreement on Syria, we can do great things regarding Iran, I don’t understand what you are doing with Greenland,” Macron wrote in the message, a screenshot of which was published on Trump’s account on the social network he owns. Trump is expected to arrive in Davos on Wednesday at noon, hold bilateral meetings and give a speech to the participants of the convention. On Thursday he is expected to announce the composition of the “Peace Council”.

Britain accused of ‘extraordinary stupidity’

Later, Trump also lashed out at Britain, one of the eight countries on which an additional 10% tariff was imposed starting at the end of January following the sending of troops to Greenland last weekend – an act that Trump interpreted as intended to harm him personally and American interests. While Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for “keeping calm” and avoided threatening retaliatory tariffs, Trump defined the transfer of the British-controlled Chagos Islands to Mauritius as “an act of great stupidity.” Britain signed a deal that would allow it to lease part of the territory on the islands, where the strategic Diego Garcia base is located, and Trump himself announced his support for the move. But in another post on his account on his social network, Trump changed his position.

“Amazingly, our ‘brilliant’ ally, the United Kingdom, is about to hand over the island of Diego Garcia, where the US has a strategic base, to Mauritius, and is doing so for no apparent reason,” he wrote. Trump defined this as an “act of weakness” and “extraordinary stupidity” and said that China and Russia “only understand power” and therefore the United States should own Greenland. The government in London meanwhile refrained from strongly condemning the things, and only explained that it had transferred control of the islands as a result of court decisions.

The “sell the USA” sentiment is getting stronger

While the European Union and the United Kingdom are considering how to respond politically and economically to the issue, analysts have estimated that the last few days have increased the sentiment of “selling the USA” in the markets – that is, to withdraw from investments in the dollar, in the American stock market and also to sell American bonds.

On social media, they raised the possibility that Europe would massively sell American corporate and government bonds as a threat to the economy overseas, but analysis shows that most of the holders are private companies and funds, and that such a move is not feasible in a coordinated manner. The weakening of the dollar and the decline in the markets may symbolize a natural reluctance of investors from the current path in which Trump is leading Europe into conflict with its former allies across the Atlantic.

Alongside possible countermeasures, the European Parliament is currently expected to delay the signing of the trade agreement that imposes a 15% tariff on most European goods, and which was painstakingly formulated in recent months. Trump continued to push the issue at noon on Tuesday, publishing an artificial intelligence image of himself, the vice president and the foreign minister against the background of Greenland, which read “American territory – estimated in 2026.”

Denmark announced that its representatives will not participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos. On the first day of the discussions, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, gave a “soft” speech in which she avoided reactionary measures, and only defined the American measures as a “mistake”. She said that the current pressure will only help the European Union to change towards “a new kind of European independence”.