Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Denmark “irrelevant” Wednesday as he shrugged off concerns about a US Treasury sell-off following President Trump’s heightened threats to annex Greenland.
The “sell America” effect shook global markets Tuesday in the first day of trading after Trump announced new 10% tariffs – set to take effect Feb. 1 and later jump to 25% – on several European allies opposed to his efforts to take over Greenland. The levies would come on top of the US’ baseline 15% tariff on most European goods.
Stocks nosedived, bond prices tumbled and Treasury yields jumped as investors panicked over heated geopolitical tensions and a potential retreat among European investors in US government bonds.
“Denmark’s investment in US Treasury bonds, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant,” Bessent told reporters during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“That is less than $100 million. They’ve been selling Treasurys for years, I’m not concerned at all,” he added.
“This notion that Europeans would be selling US assets came from a single analyst at Deutsche Bank,” Bessent said, adding that it was amplified by “the fake news media.”
The Jan. 18 note from George Saravelos, Deutsche’s global head of FX research, stated that the “US has one key weakness: it relies on others to pay its bills via large external deficits.”
European countries owned roughly $8 trillion of US bonds and equities, according to the note.
“In an environment where the geoeconomic stability of the western alliance is being disrupted existentially, it is not clear why Europeans would be as willing to play this part,” Saravelos wrote.
Bessent claimed the CEO of Deutsche Bank called him to distance the bank from the note, saying he “does not stand by that analyst report.”
Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
A spokesperson for the bank told several outlets that the company does not typically comment on “potential communication between the bank and government representatives.”
Bessent blamed the higher Treasury yields on a Japanese bond sell-off that took place Tuesday afternoon and “spilled over to other markets.” That sell-off was reportedly fueled by fears of fiscal overreach from the Japanese government.
Bessent claimed the US has seen “record foreign investment” in its Treasurys.
Here’s the latest on Trump’s negotiations with Greenland
Trump says he has zeroed in on Greenland because of its strategic location between North America and the Arctic, which he argues makes it the perfect spot for overseeing shipping routes and military attacks.
The president contends the US needs to take over the island for national security concerns, repeatedly hinting at potential threats from Russia and China.
“We are asking our allies to understand that Greenland needs to be part of the United States,” Bessent said Wednesday.
Greenlanders have pushed back hard, marching in protests in red caps that read “Make America Go Away,” a mocking take onTrump’s MAGA slogan. Politicians in Greenland have also spoken out against the idea.
The last time the US bought land from Denmark was the sale of the US Virgin Islands — including the one that would become late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious “Epstein Island.”
Bessent said the 1917 sale of the US Virgin Islands showed the US “understood” the islands’ importance.
“President Trump has made it clear that we will not outsource our national security or our hemispheric security to any other countries,” Bessent said. “Our partner, the UK, is letting us down with the base on Diego Garcia, which we had shared together for many, many years, and they want to turn it over to Mauritius. So, President Trump is serious here.
“Just as I said after ‘Liberation Day’ last year, I would tell everyone, ‘Take a deep breath, do not have this reflexive anger that we’ve seen, and this bitterness.’ Why don’t they sit down and wait for President Trump to get here and listen to his argument, because I think they are going to be persuaded.”
