Tensions Over Greenland Strain US Alliances, World Order

TaiwanPlus News

US President Donald Trump isn't backing down on his idea of annexing Greenland to the United States. Stock markets are responding poorly. And as economic and diplomatic tensions rise, some leaders are questioning whether the entire world order has permanently changed.

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00:00Aviak Brandt and Jens Hjeldsen raise Greenland's flag outside the U.S. consulate in Greenland's

00:06capital, Nuuk. Every day this week, their small group of protesters will set off before dawn

00:12to this same spot to say no to U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to acquire their homeland.

00:18I'm here to put a flag, our flag, in front of the consulate for United States

00:28to show Donald Trump and to show the world that the only flag that belongs in Greenland

00:37is our flag.

00:40This gathering, though small, reflects a broader groundswell of patriotism.

00:45Thousands of Greenlanders have already taken to the streets to say their island, a Danish

00:49territory, is not for sale.

00:53And some European countries have backed Denmark's sovereignty by sending in troops,

00:58part of a Danish-led NATO military exercise.

01:01Wow, that's a big crowd. That's a lot of people. I think it's like a record.

01:07But Trump isn't backing down. He says the U.S. needs Greenland for its security,

01:12and that he thinks Greenlanders will be, quote, thrilled for their island to come under U.S.

01:16control.

01:17His threat to put extra punitive tariffs on European countries opposed to his annexation

01:22plans is straining the NATO alliance, and now bringing counter-threats from Europe and

01:27a freezing of a U.S.-EU trade deal.

01:29But on Tuesday, before heading to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in Davos,

01:34Trump told reporters he foresees a good outcome.

01:38We have a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland.

01:40I'm leaving tonight, as you know, for Davos. And we have a lot of meetings scheduled on

01:46Greenland. And I think things are going to work out pretty well, actually.

01:50Outside the White House, not everyone shares that optimism.

01:54All three big Wall Street indexes ended well down Tuesday.

01:57And some market watchers say Greenland, along with other moves by the Trump administration,

02:02is why.

02:02So the potential for real decline, and that's the big question right now. Are we at a moment

02:08that's a tipping point where the market says, enough, that's it. Greenland on the back of

02:16Maduro, immigration issues, Fed pressures, Gaza Peace Board, where he's the chairman. Is this

02:25the moment?

02:26And U.S. allies are firm about Greenland. Some allied leaders are simply holding their ground

02:31for now.

02:34I think what's important, we must defend our principles. We must defend our interests without

02:40being aggressive. We are not. While making sure we are respected, which is what we're

02:45doing, but without being intimidated either. And we will protect all our producers.

02:50But others are suggesting that the world order has now reached its breaking point, with whatever

02:55that might imply for future ties with powers like the U.S.

02:58Of course, nostalgia is part of our human story, but nostalgia will not bring back the old order.

03:06And playing for time and hoping for things to revert soon will not fix the structural

03:13dependencies we have.

03:15Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Over the past two decades, a series of

03:23crises in finance, health, energy and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration.

03:30But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage.

03:37With tensions over Greenland testing old alliances, the talks that happen at this year's World Economic Forum

03:43could be consequential. And, as some leaders say, point to whether the world order really is

03:49rupturing. Andy Xue and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

03:54So, we're going to go ahead and see. The that happened happens since the beginning of avi

04:14uninterested dog may be drugs.

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