Global & US Headlines
Trump’s Davos Blitz: Tariff Threats, Greenland Pressure, Canada Snub Signal Break with Post-1945 Order
During the Jan 20-24 2026 World Economic Forum, President Trump publicly revoked Canada’s invitation to his self-styled “Board of Peace,” dangled and withdrew new European tariffs, and warned Denmark to accept U.S. control of Greenland, jolting allies and fuelling talk of a collapsing rules-based order.
Focusing Facts
- 24 Jan 2026: Trump annulled PM Mark Carney’s Board of Peace invite after Carney urged “middle-power” coordination against U.S. coercion.
- At Davos, Trump first announced sweeping tariffs on Switzerland, then hours later cut them to 5 % after a second call with Swiss officials.
- He threatened a 200 % duty on French wine and champagne if France resisted U.S. Greenland plans.
Context
Great-power muscle-flexing at multilateral forums is not new: Mussolini brow-beat the League of Nations in 1935, and the 1971 Nixon-Shock upended Bretton Woods with a single speech. Trump’s Davos manoeuvres echo those precedents—using economic weapons and abrupt decrees to tilt institutional rules in his favour—but with a twist: the U.S., architect of the post-1945 system, is now the principal disrupter. The episode reveals two long waves: (1) erosion of the U.S.-led liberal order since the 2003 Iraq invasion and 2008 financial crisis, and (2) the rise of transactional, leader-centric diplomacy enabled by digital megaphones. Whether this week matters in 2126 depends on if middle powers like Canada, France and Denmark can forge durable coalitions—paralleling the 1955 Bandung moment—or if Trump’s “maximalist strategy” accelerates a return to spheres-of-influence politics last dominant in the 19th-century. Either way, the post-Cold-War assumption of predictable U.S. stewardship is now visibly broken.
Perspectives
Left-leaning Canadian opinion media
Toronto Star, The Hamilton Spectator — They frame Trump’s Greenland bid and tariff threats as proof he is an unpredictable, even Hitler-style menace whom Canada and other middle powers must resist by finding new partners. Loaded historical analogies and colourful language cater to progressive readers and risk exaggerating danger to rally domestic opinion against both Trump and Canadian conservatives.
Associated Press-syndicated mainstream outlets
e.g., AP copy in The Star, MyNorthwest, NDTV — Reporters depict Trump’s second-term diplomacy as the erosion of the post-war rules-based order, detailing allied confusion and a scramble to build alternative coalitions. Heavy reliance on Western diplomatic sources and critics gives prominence to alarm over instability while offering little space to pro-Trump justifications, subtly steering readers toward viewing events as chaotic and dangerous.