Greenland Crisis Voices on the Threat

Newsom: Astonishing – but excruciatingly boring

California Governor and Trump critic Gavin Newsom says Donald Trump's speech in Davos was "excruciatingly boring" because it contained nothing new, CNN reports.

- It was full of astonishing statements that completely contradict reality and common sense. But we've heard this over and over again. It may be news to Europeans, but we Americans have heard it before, he tells the channel.

The Democrat drew attention on Tuesday after he called European leaders pathetic for not standing up to Trump and wondered if he should have brought knee pads for them. He says that a surprising number of European leaders have said they appreciated his comments.

- They needed to hear that that perspective also exists in the United States, he says.

Analysis: Trump Backs Down on Threat of Violence, but the Crisis is Total

Donald Trump is no longer threatening to take over Greenland by military means because there is no support in Congress for it – but there is no doubt that the American president is ready to go to great lengths to take control of the island. This is what Danish TV2's Lotte Mejlhede writes in an initial commentary after Trump's speech in Davos.

She believes that Ukraine could be used as a pawn in Trump's game, expecting an "unparalleled" showdown with NATO and a protracted trade war.

"Who knows. Everything is a risk right now," she writes.

Sky News US correspondent Mark Stone draws a similar conclusion in his analysis.

"The threat of violence against Greenland may have been reduced, but the transatlantic crisis is total," he writes.

Something that Trump did not mention at all in his long speech was the recent threats to impose punitive tariffs on countries that do not support him in the tug-of-war over Greenland, notes DR's Casper Schrøder.

– Where have they gone? Is the president backing down a bit? Maybe. But it is difficult to assess, because Trump can swing very quickly, he says.
 

"When Carney speaks, he knows that Canada may be next"

Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech in Davos last night was a shift in Canada's foreign policy. 

Campbell Clark writes in an analysis in The Globe and Mail.

In the speech, he warned that "middle powers" such as Canada and the EU risk subordinating themselves to great powers just to avoid problems. For Carney and Canada, it was an unusually clear stance against their closest neighbor, the United States, Campbell writes.

In the more conservative Toronto Sun, Mark Lilley writes that there are some things to applaud in the speech, but he is not entirely satisfied. He is mainly critical of Carney criticizing the US for leaving the rules-based world order, without mentioning that Russia and China abandoned it decades ago.

In The Guardian, Toronto-based Leyland Cecco writes that Mark Carney is increasingly emerging as the “realist” who is ready to take on Trump. In the text, he argues that Carney is one of the few leaders in the West who sees reality as it is.

In the New York Times analysis, it is seen as Canada flexing its muscles, while at the same time with one eye on looking for new allies. CNN’s analysis states that Canada is trying to position itself on the world stage, with the knowledge that the country could be next in line on Trump’s wish list after Greenland.