I take it Trump gave a press conference at the White House yesterday in which he repeatedly confused Greenland with Iceland. But the only mainstream media I see reporting this is the Wall Street Journal.

That’s as much as I can read; the rest is behind a paywall. I’m just thinking of how it made many headlines every time Joe Biden mixed up a name.

I take it today Trump has been addressing Davos. This is the executive summary of the speech, courtesy of the New York Times:

Trump Speaks: President Trump used a speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday to criticize Europe and cast the world as almost entirely reliant on the United States for peace and prosperity. “Without us, most of the countries don’t even work,” Mr. Trump said in lengthy remarks that contained complaints that the United States had been mistreated by its allies, and could not rely on them for mutual defense. Read more ›

Greenland: Mr. Trump said the U.S. “won’t use force” to take Greenland, repeating that control of it was necessary for national and international security. He said he would be “appreciative” if the world acquiesced to his desire to take over the territory. “Or,” he added, “you can say no and we will remember.”

I’m sure that went over well. Most of the headlines are saying that Trump “ruled out use of force” to take Greenland,  As one NY Times reporter put it, “The contours of Trump’s challenge to Europe in this speech: ‘Give me Greenland, or I will tariff you into oblivion — though I won’t send troops to take it.'”

Paul Krugman must have anticipated what Trump would say. See MAGA Delusions of Economic Leverage.

… we can say something about the likely effects of his attempt to coerce Europe with tariffs — namely, that it won’t work. Only in Trump’s fantasies does America possess huge economic leverage over Europe. To the extent that we have any leverage over them, it’s matched by the leverage they have over us.

Krugman cites a new study from the Kiel Institute for World Economics. In 2025 American consumers paid 96 percent of the cost of the tariffs. Foreign businesses absorbed only 4 percent. The only people being “tariffed into oblivion” by Trump are Americans.

And Krugman goes on to say that the European economy is huge and diverse and the U.S. isn’t its only market. He thinks Trump’s tantrum tariffs will hurt the U.S. economy more than it will hurt Europe’s. He also notes the Supreme Court is still holding back its opinion on Trump’s tariffs. “At this point the Court’s cowardice is unmistakable; the justices’ robes must be drenched in flop sweat,” Krugman writes.

In another Great Moment in Diplomacy, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Denmark “irrelevant.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday 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 US government bonds.

Bessent said in response that Denmark and its investment in the United States were “irrelevant.”

“Denmark’s investment in US Treasury bonds – like Denmark itself – is irrelevant,” Bessent told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when asked how concerned he is about institutional investors in Europe potentially pulling out of Treasuries.

There ought to be a way citizens of the U.S. could collectively send Denmark a note of apology for these assholes. I understand the bond market in general is in a volatile place. We are not in a good position to piss off the world right now.

Speaking of the economy — today the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments over whether Trump can legally fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Trump fired Cook in August over extremely dubious claims of wrongdoing over a mortgage. She has remained on the Fed  board as one lower court after another ruled that Trump overstepped his authority when he fired her. Trump is desperate to get his hands on monetary policy so he can lower interest rates to provide a temporary “sugar high” to the economy. Which would lead to big inflation, all the financial people say.

Yesterday the New York Times published a Big Deal Report on how Trump is using the presidency to make himself a fortune. See How Trump Has Pocketed $1,408,500,000.

A review by the editorial board relying on analyses from news organizations shows that Mr. Trump has used the office of the presidency to make at least $1.4 billion. We know this number to be an underestimate because some of his profits remain hidden from public view. And they continue to grow.

Again, if this were Any Other President it would have absolutely overwhelmed the next several news cycles. With Trump, it appears hardly anyone noticed.

Update: Trump met with Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, and came away deciding to not tariff the bejeezus out of Europe after all. So the threatened new tariffs are canceled, for now. Trump said there is a “framework” of a plan regarding Greenland and the broader arctic region. But there are no details yet what that framework might be. Since I doubt the secretary general of NATO has been authorized to negotiate a sale of Greenland to Trump, Rutte must have somehow found an acceptable off ramp for Trump’s demands. Let’s hope.

Another update: Jack Smith will be giving public testimony tomorrow, starting at 10 am EST.  I believe you can watch it on MS NOW and C-Span.

Update update: I’m hearing some of Trump’s speech. He seems to believe that the U.S. took Greenland from the Nazis, or somebody, but then stupidly “We gave Greenland back to Denmark.” WTF?