Good morning,
Trump's presidential term won't end for another 1,095 days. His inauguration as the 47th president of the United States was exactly one year ago today (20 January).
But the past few months, weeks, days, and even hours have seen a tectonic shift in how the United States operates on the global stage. Ahead of his meeting with European leaders in Davos, he posted an image of the United States' flag sprawled across Canada and Greenland.
Trump's expansionist and power-centric goals have entered a new realm of craziness.
He ranted against Norway's prime minister for not receiving a Nobel Peace Prize and then called for the "Complete and Total Control of Greenland".
His so-called Peace Board for Gaza includes invitations sent to Russia's president Vladimir Putin, Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, and Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also sent one to French president Emmanuel Macron, who reportedly declined, before Trump threatened to impose a 200 percent tariff on French wines.
The European Union is scrambling to contain a man with clearly autocratic leanings, even as he sends masked paramilitary units to attack innocent people in American cities. But it is increasingly difficult to describe the United States as a partner and as an ally for Europe.
The EU and Nato want to de-escalate in the hopes of salvaging an 80-year-old alliance that is being ripped apart.
"We are ready to discuss. We are ready to find solutions," Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, told reporters in Strasbourg, when pressed on how to handle Trump.
An EU summit on Thursday aims to tackle some of those questions. But what kind of palatable solutions for Europe will also appease Trump's appetite for total domination? "When the rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself," Canada's prime minister Mark Carney said at Davos.
The EU and the rest of the world have to contend with another 1,095 days of a man willing to use American military and economic might to further cement his transactional "deal-making". Eventually, it will backfire, and hopefully Europe and the rest of the world will come out on top.
- Nikolaj Nielsen, home-affairs editor
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