Good morning,
On Sunday, in NBC’s television show ‘Meet the Press’, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent imagined a scenario in which Greenland is under threat of invasion from other countries, which these hypothetical invaders would only refrain from if the US actually owned Greenland – “because we’re the hottest country in the world,” he said.
Bessent made these comments a day after US president Donald Trump announced he’d be levying new trade tarriffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland.
Trump wrote these tariffs were a response to these countries creating a “very dangerous situation for the safety, security, and survival of our planet” by sending a handful of officers to Greenland.
Trump also somehow missed Belgium was part of the same mission.
And Greenland, of course, is only under threat of invasion by the United States of America.
By now, this whole thing is a playbook that’s been practised quite thoroughly by the Trump administration.
Imagine a crisis. Treat the imagination as reality. Escalate the imagined crisis into an actual crisis. Respond with overwhelming force to the self-created actual crisis. Blame the one who responds to the force as the source of the crisis, to justify the force. Justify their punishment by claiming it prevented the original, imagined threat.
Bessent illustrated this perfectly in his interview. When asked what the national emergency was that justified setting the tariffs, Bessent – with a straight face – answered: “The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency.”
Right. An emergency declared to prevent an emergency that only exists because it was declared. Like setting your house on fire so you never again have to worry about a fire.
But worse, because this particular recursive loop could just go on and on and on.
Unless European investors make a few phone calls about their €7.4 trillion in US assets. The capital has to go somewhere – Eurobonds funding European defence spending might do nicely.
– Alejandro Tauber, publisher
Advert
EUobserver relies on subscriptions to hold the EU to account – if you're not already, do consider becoming a supporting member here.
Agenda
Trump's Greenland trade war hijacks EU agenda This WEEK
US president Donald Trump will meet EU leaders at Davos after starting a trade war over Greenland, while MEPs vote on €90bn for Ukraine.
What else you need to know
Greenland trade war hijacks EU agenda This WEEK
US president Donald Trump will meet EU leaders at Davos after starting a trade war over Greenland, while MEPs vote on €90bn for Ukraine.Read on »
Cars, steel and carbon on the table as EU hopes to seal India deal
EU trade officials are facing a break-neck week focused on car tariffs, steel and carbon emissions concession as they bid to sign off on the bloc’s latest trade deal at a special summit in India later this month. Read on »
Rich people are a threat for democracy, Oxfam finds
Total billionaire wealth in the EU reached €2.4 trillion by late November, exceeding Italy's entire GDP of €2.2 trillion and approaching France's €2.9 trillion economy, a new Oxfam report found.Read on »
Advert
Trump's Greenland trade war risks 'spiral' in Nato relations
A US decision to unleash trade war against EU and Nato allies over Greenland has struck another blow inside the Western family, delighting Russia. Read on »
MEP who tried to shield humanitarians risks far-right defenestration
A socialist MEP might have to relinquish her role as lead negotiator on a migration dossier following right-wing pressure over proposals to shield humanitarians from criminal prosecution.Read on »
EU soft on US threats against Iran, as China warns of 'abyss'
EU states mostly kept quiet on US military threats against Iran, while China voiced outrage, at emotional UN talks in New York. Read on »
AI-driven digital manipulation ‘tested’ Dutch election integrity, researchers warn
There was intense digital interference during last year's Dutch parliamentary elections, with generative AI political content playing an increasing role and producing vast engagement, according to the Dutch Hybrid Election Integrity Observatory.Read on »
In case you missed it
Tensions boil over in wake of EU landmark €120m fine against X
The European Commission has responded to vitriolic criticism from both Elon Musk and Marco Rubio, after levying a €120m fine on the US social media platform X (formerly Twitter) last week.Read on »
In search for Asian trade allies, EU must avoid past mistakes Column
If they are to make common cause with their Asian counterparts, European policymakers (and those who cheer them on from the sidelines) will have to change outdated paternalistic mindsets. “Now it is about being pragmatic and acknowledging how much we need each other.”Read on »
Europe isn’t weak – but rearmament without democracy isOpinion
At Cold War–scale rearmament, Europe’s risk is not military weakness, but losing democratic control over powerRead on »
EU seeks first payouts in April from €90bn loan for Kyiv
The European Commission wants Ukraine to receive the first instalment in April of a €90bn loan, as Russia continues its assault.Read on »
Bolshoi-loving banker threatened Euroclear CEO, amid EU talks on Russian assetsInvestigation
A French banker inside Euroclear, who flew to Russia 155 times for "private" reasons, allegedly tried to connect the company's CEO, Valérie Urbain, with Russian spies and threatened her when she declined, according to an investigation by EUobserver, Humo, De Morgen, and Dossier Center.Read on »
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten