U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Denmark was “irrelevant” and that he was not concerned about Europe pulling out of the U.S. government bond market, amid fears of U.S. President Donald Trump annexing Greenland and imposing new tariffs. “Denmark’s investment in U.S. Treasury bonds, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant,” Bessent told journalists in Davos on Wednesday morning. “They’ve been selling treasuries for years. I am not concerned at all.”
Bessent was responding to concerns that European capitals might try to pressure Washington by selling U.S. bonds, following a Danish pension fund’s decision to divest citing Trump’s Greenland threats. He dismissed the issue as amplified by “the fake news media” and noted that market volatility was also driven by fears about Japan’s debt. U.S. markets had sold off sharply on Tuesday on fears the Greenland rift could reignite a trade war.
Earlier, Bessent criticized European leaders’ “inflammatory” commentary and the “quixotic” signal of deploying troops to Greenland. His comments came hours before a delayed speech by President Trump in Davos.