Key events
The White House’s latest calls for a US takeover of Greenland come after the dark-of-night arrest of Nicolas Madurothe Venezuelan president, on Saturday. The next day, Trump said that he needed Greenland “very badly”, prompting a ramping-up of tensions among the US, the semi-autonomous Danish territory and Europe.
Greenland has repeatedly stated that it does not want to be part of the US. The idea is also unpopular in the US, where one poll found just 7% of Americans agree with a military seizure of Greenland.
In a show of solidarity on Tuesday, the leaders of France, Germanythe UK and other nations issued a joint statement with the prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksenurging the US to respect its sovereignty. They wrote in the statement that Arctic security was a top priority for Natoa defense alliance that includes the United States and Greenland.
In a private briefing on Capitol Hillthe US secretary of state Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Monday that the administration would prefer to buy the island from Denmark rather than invade it, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Opening summary
Donald Trump has said Venezuela will be “turning over” $2bn worth of Venezuelan crude to the United Statesa flagship negotiation that would divert supplies from China while helping Venezuela avoid deeper oil production cuts.
Trump said in a post online:
This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!
Venezuelan government officials and state company PDVSA did not provide comment.
Venezuela has millions of barrels of oil loaded on tankers and in storage tanks that it has been unable to ship due to the blockade imposed by Trump, as part of the pressure campaign that culminated in the toppling of Nicolas Maduro who was seized from his country by US forces over the weekend.
Top Venezuelan officials have called Maduro’s capture a kidnapping and accused the US of trying to steal the country’s vast oil reserves, however Tuesday’s supposed agreement is a strong sign that the government is responding to Trump’s demand that they open up to US oil companies or risk more military intervention.
Meanwhile, Trump and his advisers have said they are looking into “a range of options” in an effort to acquire Greenland, noting in a White House statement on Tuesday that using the US military to do so is “always an option”.
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said in a statement:
President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.
Leavitt’s comments came as the leaders of major European powers pushed back against Trump’s long-running desire to seize the Arctic territory. More on both of these stories in a moment, but first here are some other developments in US politics:
Trump’s administration is freezing more than $10bn in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New Yorkthe Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said, citing what it called concerns about fraud and misuse.
The Department of Justice has released less than 1% of the so-called Epstein files, a court filing has revealedas Democrats step up criticism of the Trump administration’s “lawlessness” for keeping records under seal.
The Trump administration has sent more immigration agents to Minnesota, part of escalating attacks and rhetoric against the state and its immigrant populations in what immigration officials are saying is the agency’s “largest operation to date”.
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to give up his “fantasies about annexation” of Greenland and accused the US of “completely and utterly unacceptable” rhetoric. “Enough is enough,” he said. The prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen previously warned that an attack by the US on a Nato ally would mean the “end” of the military alliance and “post-second world war security”. It would, she said, be the end of “everything”.
The Trump administration has abandoned efforts to combat child exploitation, human trafficking and cartels as it diverts thousands of law enforcement personnel to Immigration and Customs EnforcementDemocratic senators said in a letter to the White House.
