Greenland pushback building in Davos
Donald Trump arrived in Davos, Switzerland today for the World Economic Forum. European leaders have been outspoken against Trump’s plans to take Greenland from Denmark and have vowed to band together to resist what he does. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that the world order has been ruptured because of Trump. Trump’s flight to Davos took longer than planned when an electrical problem forced Air Force One to turn back to the U.S. about an hour after takeoff. Before leaving for Davos, Trump warned that there is no turning back on his pursuit to take Greenland.
Trump speech focuses on Greenland and his accomplishments
In his speech at Davos, Donald Trump said he has been a critic of NATO for many years but has done more to help NATO than any other president and NATO wouldn’t exist without him. NATO, in fact, was established after World War II, long before Trump got out of school. Trump falsely claimed that NATO would not come to the aid of the U.S., if the U.S. was attacked. In fact, the only time that NATO’s mutual aid agreement was activated was after the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S., when NATO members did aid the U.S. Trump claimed that the war in Ukraine would not have started if the 2020 election hadn’t been rigged to keep him out of the White House. Trump claimed he would have told Vladimir Putin that he’s not going to start a war in Ukraine and Putin would have listened to him. Trump also repeated his false claim that he settled eight wars. Trump claimed that the U.S. gave Greenland back to Denmark after World War II, which also is false.
Trump pushes his Board of Peace
Donald Trump says that the international organization he wants to form to give himself unprecedented power might replace the United Nations. Trump calls it the Board of Peace and says that he will be the board’s first chairman and will remain as its chairman indefinitely. Trump at first said that the board would oversee the redevelopment of Gaza. Russia and China have been invited to join. A “founding Executive Board” would include Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump would charge countries $1 billion to join and he says he would control the money.
Musk’s people violated security of Social Security data
A worker for Elon Musk’s failed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shared Social Security data without agency officials’ knowledge and in violation of security protocols, the Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday. The Social Security Administration is still unable to determine what information was shared through a third-party server that’s not approved to store agency records or whether that data still exists on the server, according to the court filing. The filing is the Trump administration’s first acknowledgement that DOGE employees inappropriately handled highly sensitive Social Security data. The information that was taken by Musk’s people included Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, citizenship status, parents’ names and other personal information. Tuesday’s court filing also revealed that one of Musk’s DIOGE employees agreed to help an unidentified “political advocacy group” review voter rolls as part of an effort to overturn election results in certain states.
Trump administration subpoenas Minnesota democrats
The Trump administration is accusing Minnesota’s Democratic leaders of blocking their attempts to carry out immigration enforcement. On Tuesday, the Justice Department issued subpoenas to at least five top Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The subpoenas are part of an investigation into whether state and local officials obstructed federal immigration enforcement efforts, sources say. This comes as President Trump has raised the prospect of deploying a military presence to Minnesota under the Insurrection Act — an extraordinary step that would almost certainly face immediate legal challenges.
Amazon blames Trump’s tariffs for higher prices
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says that tariffs implemented under President Trump may be contributing to higher prices on some Amazon orders. Like many retailers, Amazon and its third-party sellers stocked up on inventory ahead of last spring’s tariff rollout, but that inventory ran out by the fall, Jassy said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday. Jassy said that some sellers are passing higher costs on to consumers, while others are absorbing them or taking a mixed approach. Walmart, Target and Home Depot have also warned that tariffs are translating into steeper prices for shoppers.
