Trump has attacked pillars of democracy, Human Rights Watch says

By Daphne Psaledakis
Wed, February 4, 2026 


U.S. President Donald Trump listens as U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during the signing ceremony for the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMore


By Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has attacked key pillars of his country's democracy, Human Rights Watch warned on Wednesday in its annual report, citing the Republican president's immigration crackdown, threats to ​voting rights and other policies.

Human Rights Watch Executive Director Philippe Bolopion said global democracy was now back at 1985 ‌levels, according to some metrics. He said Russia, China and the United States were all less free than 20 years ago, and 72% of the world's ‌population was now living under autocracy.

"It's actually incredible to see how the Trump administration has really undermined all the pillars of U.S. democracy, all the checks and balances on power," Bolopion told reporters.

"We see a sort of very hostile environment in the U.S. and a very rapid decline of ... the quality of democracy in this country."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bolopion ⁠also said in the report that the Trump ‌administration had leaned on racist tropes and "embraced policies and rhetoric that align with white nationalist ideology."

He criticized what he said was degrading treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers, the killing of two people ‍in Minneapolis, and the deportation of hundreds of migrants to a mega-prison in El Salvador known for its harsh conditions, among other elements of Trump's immigration crackdown.

Masked immigration officers, often in tactical military-style gear, have become a common sight across the U.S. and protests have erupted in several ​cities.

Trump's hardline immigration agenda was a potent campaign issue that helped him win a return to the White House in ‌2024. Trump wanted Americans to feel safe in their communities and had pledged to remove "dangerous criminal aliens" from the U.S., a spokesperson said in defense of his immigration policy last week.

Human Rights Watch also cited strikes on suspected drug boats and criticized Trump for turning Venezuela over to President Nicolas Maduro's deputy after his capture, which Bolopion told reporters in a news conference was "risking a new human rights disaster."

Trump has said he should get the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to broker peace in a number ⁠of global conflicts. Human Rights Watch was skeptical, saying he had downplayed serious ​human rights violations by Russia in Ukraine, done nothing to stop atrocities ​in Sudan, and failed to pressure the Israeli government to stop crimes in Gaza, where Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of committing genocide and extermination. Israel has repeatedly rejected any accusation of genocide.

Elsewhere, the ‍report said Chinese authorities systematically denied ⁠freedom of expression, freedom of religion and other rights, while Russia had further intensified a crackdown on dissent and civil society.

But in 2026 "the fight for the future of human rights will play out most sharply in the U.S., with ⁠consequences for the rest of the world," Bolopion said.

"Many Western allies have chosen to stay silent on U.S. actions because they fear increasing tariffs and ‌weakening alliances. What we urgently need now is a strong global alliance of countries promoting human rights and ‌the rules-based world order."

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

Greenland shatters temperature record, redrawing economy from fishing to minerals

By Fedja Grulovic
Wed, February 4, 2026 


A man looks at floating ice at the old harbour of Nuuk, Greenland, January 29, 2026. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

NUUK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Greenland, the Arctic island coveted by U.S. President Donald Trump, experienced its warmest January on record this year, as a rate of warming four times ​faster than the global average redraws the outlook for sectors from fishing to mining.

Trump has said ‌the U.S. must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, for security reasons although he has backed away from ‌threats to take the island by force.

Preliminary temperature readings from the Danish Meteorological Institute in the Greenlandic capital Nuuk averaged +0.2 degrees Celsius (32.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in January, the highest on record and well above the historical average of -7.7 degrees between 1991 and 2020.

"Climate change is already clearly visible on Greenland," said Jacob Hoyer, head of the National Centre ⁠for Climate Research at the Danish Meteorological ‌Institute.

"From the records we can see that it is warming four times faster than the mean temperature hike in the world."

The warm weather means sea ice extends less ‍far south along the coast each winter and is thinner even where it does exist, making it difficult to use for transport, according to Hoyer.

It can also affect the mainstay of Greenland's economy - fishing. Catches of mainly shrimp, halibut and cod ​are the biggest export and accounted for 23% of gross domestic product in 2023, according to Statistics ‌Greenland, while the industry provides 15% of all jobs.

"The waters around Greenland are also warming up, and that can change the ecosystem and the fishery business. It will most likely have an impact," said Hoyer, adding it was too early to tell exactly how.

While Trump has chiefly highlighted security concerns, Greenland also holds strategic mineral resources that could play a part in the power struggle for the island. A Danish survey published in 2023 ⁠showed 25 of the 34 minerals deemed "critical raw materials" by ​the European Commission were found there.

Red tape surrounding mining concessions, harsh ​conditions and opposition from indigenous groups have historically made mining expensive. The flip side of the warming climate could be that such ventures become more profitable as extraction and shipping ‍become less costly, Hoyer said.

Still, ⁠businesses in many established sectors face uncertainty in the here and now. Casper Moller, owner of a company providing tours for tourists, says the lack of snow and ice makes these difficult by ⁠snowmobile or skis.

"So, what we are doing at this moment is just crossing our fingers that we will reach more snow quite ‌soon," he said.

(Reporting by Fedja Grulovic in Nuuk, additional reporting by Tom Little in Copenhagen ‌and Johan Ahlander in Stockholm; Editing by Ros Russell)

Finland's Stubb: We must admit the US is changing

Reuters
Wed, February 4, 2026 


Finland's President Alexander Stubb speaks during the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

HELSINKI, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Europe and Finland need to acknowledge that the United States is changing and ​that the U.S. administration's ideology behind its foreign ‌policy "conflicts with our own values", Finland's president Alexander Stubb said on Wednesday.

European ‌NATO members including Finland have been rethinking their foreign policy strategies in recent weeks, after U.S. President Donald Trump in January inflamed tensions with his European allies over Greenland, an ⁠overseas territory belonging to ‌Denmark.

Finland will update its foreign and security policy doctrine to reflect the changes in the ‍international situation, Stubb told members of Parliament in a speech.

"We must honestly acknowledge that the United States is undergoing change. Its approach ​to its allies, as well as its way of ‌conducting foreign policy, is also changing," he said, calling the U.S. nevertheless "an important ally".

Stubb has sought to maintain close relations with Trump to seek his support for Ukraine amid Russia's invasion and to boost Finland's own security as a ⁠neighbour to Russia.

"The foreign policy of ​the current U.S. administration is ​underpinned by an ideology that conflicts with our own values," Stubb said, giving as examples of such ‍conflicts of ⁠values the U.S. undermining the existing international order, operating outside international institutions and downplaying the importance of Europe.

Stubb ⁠gave no timeline for the foreign and security policy review, but said ‌the work with the government was only beginning.

(Reporting ‌by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki)

Ex-leader Harper says Canada should make 'any sacrifice necessary' to preserve independence from US

ROB GILLIES
Tue, February 3, 2026 


Canada's former Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks during a ceremony for his official portrait unveiling in Ottawa, Ontario, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper is recognized in the House of Commons following Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)


Canada's former Prime Minister Stephen Harper listens to a speaker during a ceremony for his official portrait unveiling in Ottawa, Ontario, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

TORONTO (AP) — Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday the country should make “any sacrifice necessary” to preserve the independence of the country in the face of threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Harper, a Conservative prime minister for nearly a decade from 2006 to 2015, made the remarks in a speech during his official portrait unveiling.

Harper described the times as perilous and thanked current Prime Minister Mark Carney for attending the unveiling “at a time when challenges are unprecedented during our lives.”

Trump has talked about making Canada the 51st state and has threatened the country with tariffs.

The Republican president’s push to acquire Greenland strained the NATO alliance, alarming Canada, which shares a 3,000-kilometer (1,864 mile) maritime border with Greenland in the Arctic.

Harper didn’t mention Trump by name but urged Canada’s two major parties, the Liberals and Conservatives, to unify in the face of threats to the country’s sovereignty.

“We must make any sacrifice necessary to preserve the independence and the unity of this blessed land,” Harper said.

Harper said he hopes his portrait is only one of the many portraits of prime ministers of both parties that will continue to be exhibited for decades and centuries to come.

“But that will require that in these perilous times that both parties, whatever their other differences, come together against external forces that threaten our independence,” he said.

Harper also warned against “domestic policies that threaten our unity.” A separatist moment in Alberta could garner enough votes this spring to trigger a referendum for independence from Canada.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said separatist support is about at 30%. Smith is pressuring the federal government and the British Columbia provincial government on the Pacific coast to approve a new oil pipeline to the Pacific.

Harper approved of Carney’s resume when Carney applied to be the head of Canada’s central bank during Harper's time as prime minister. He joked the then-young man “has apparently gone on to enjoy some success.”

Carney later became the head of the Bank of England in 2013 and prime minister of Canada last year.

Carney thanked Harper for denouncing those who are threatening Canada’s sovereignty as Canada was confronted with unprecedented attacks and trade pressures.

“He called on us to build a stronger Canada less dependent on the U.S.,” Carney said. “He also took the time to advise me which I have greatly appreciated.”

Carney also commended Harper for his economic stewardship during the 2008 financial crisis.

“He came to Ottawa as a balanced-budget conservative. He believed rightly that governments should live within their means. Yet when the financial crisis struck, he did not let ideology prevent him from doing what was necessary, running deficits for five years to support the Canadian economy through the worst global downturn in generations.,” Carney said.

“Mr. Harper understood that you build up strength in good times to have the capacity to act in bad times.”

Venezuelan expats who helped propel Canada oil sands growth see return home as unlikely







By Amanda Stephenson
Wed, February 4, 2026 


CALGARY, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Professional engineer Luis Cabana couldn't take a walk in downtown Calgary in the mid-2000s without someone he knew calling out to him in Spanish.

Office towers in the corporate heart of Canada's oil and gas sector were at the time heavily populated with Venezuelan expats who had fled persecution and ​economic stagnation in their home country.

Wintry and vast, Canada is geographically far from the heat and humidity of Venezuela. But the oil sands of northern Alberta and Venezuela's ‌Orinoco Belt produce a remarkably similar variety of thick, tar-like heavy crude, a fact that over the decades prompted thousands of Venezuela's best and brightest engineers, scientists and geologists to move to cities like Calgary, Edmonton and Fort McMurray.

"We were over-represented. ‌I knew another professional at every single company downtown," said Cabana, who came to Canada in 2006 and spent more than a decade in project management positions in Canada's energy sector.

These expats helped Canada develop its oil sands and become the world's largest producer of heavy crude, even as Venezuela's own oil production declined. And in spite of U.S. President Donald Trump's stated goal to revive Venezuela's oil industry, many Venezuelans who built careers in Canada say they are unlikely to return to the country of their birth as they have built lives elsewhere.

Trump's move to revive Venezuela's oil industry has sparked anxiety in ⁠Canada, as an increase in heavy oil supply from Venezuela could displace ‌some of the oil that refiners in the United States buy from Canada.

A significant increase in Venezuelan output is unlikely for years, however, because U.S. companies are reluctant to invest in big-ticket, multi-year projects without signs of long-term political stability and a new legal framework with wide endorsement in the South ‍American country.

CHAVEZ REGIME, OIL STRIKE PROMPTED EXODUS

Reuters spoke to four Venezuelans in Canada, each of whom came to the country during one of several waves of migration starting in the early 2000s. One of the most significant occurred between 2001 and 2010, after the rise of Hugo Chavez's regime, and following a massive strike at state-owned oil company PDVSA and the resulting collapse of the Venezuelan oil industry.

Some of the 7,450 Venezuelans who - according ​to federal statistics - came to Canada during that period had occupied senior roles at PDVSA. Chemist Pedro Pereira, who had been director of PDVSA's technology strategy and was blacklisted by the ‌Venezuelan government after the strike, took a position at the University of Calgary where he led nanotechnology research for oil sands applications. He also recruited dozens of other Venezuelans with expertise in heavy oil to join him.

"I ended up producing technology not for Venezuela – which was the country that paid abundantly for the education of all these people – but for Canada," said Pereira, who today runs his own Calgary-based tech company focused on renewable energy.

Many other Venezuelans migrated to the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, a small, northern Alberta city surrounded by boreal forest.


"When I got there it was minus 35 (Celsius), and when I left Caracas, it was plus 25, so it was a bit of a shock," said Lino Carrillo, who had worked in heavy oil processing and refining in Venezuela ⁠before being recruited by Canada's Suncor Energy in 2004.

Venezuela's oil industry decline coincided with the growth of Canada's, ​as the early part of this century was a period of significant oil sands expansion driven by high oil prices ​and technological breakthroughs.

"People appreciated the Venezuelan knowledge," said Carrillo. "I believe Canada would have accomplished what it did with the development of the oil sands anyway, but what they did was they brought in people with 15, 20 years of experience and that helped shortcut the path."


WAVE OF REVERSE MIGRATION UNLIKELY

Carrillo, who worked in ‍a number of senior oil sands management positions and ⁠is now retired, maintains close ties to Venezuela and even worked directly on the development of opposition party leader Maria Machado's energy platform.

Machado, who fled the South American nation in a daring seaborne escape in December, is competing for Trump's ear with members of Venezuela's government and seeking to ensure she has a role in governing the nation going forward.

Many ⁠expats say even if Venezuela begins to rebuild its oil industry and returns to democracy, a reverse wave of migration from Canada's oil sands back to the Orinoco Belt is unlikely.

"Venezuelan expats have lots of conversations about 'will they go ‌back, how can they help their country recover,'" said Pereira. "But it's two generations that have passed now, and the ones that have expertise, most of them are at ‌least 55 years old."

(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Nia Williams)

Seeking shelter from Trump's fury, U.S. trade partners reach deals with each other

PAUL WISEMAN, JOSH BOAK and ELAINE KURTENBACH
Tue, February 3, 2026 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bullied and buffeted by President Donald Trump’s tariffs for the past year, America’s longstanding allies are desperately seeking ways to shield themselves from the president’s impulsive wrath.

U.S. trade partners are cutting deals among themselves —- sometimes discarding old differences to do so — in a push to diversify their economies away from a newly protectionist United States. Some European governments and institutions are reducing their use of U.S. digital services such as Zoom and Teams.

Central banks and global investors are dumping dollars and buying gold. Together, their actions could diminish U.S. influence and mean higher interest rates and prices for Americans already angry about the high cost of living.

Last summer and fall, Trump used the threat of punishing taxes on imports to strong-arm the European Union, Japan, South Korea and other trading partners into accepting lopsided trade deals and promising to make massive investments in the United States.

But a deal with Trump, they’ve discovered, is no deal at all.

The mercurial president repeatedly finds reasons to conjure new tariffs to impose on trading partners that thought they had already made enough concessions to satisfy him.

Just months after reaching his agreement with the EU, Trump threatened new tariffs on eight European countries for opposing his attempts to seize control of Greenland from Denmark – though he quickly backed down. And last month, he said he’d slap 100% tariffs on Canada for breaking with the United States by agreeing to reduce Canadian tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

“Our trading partners are discovering that the largely one-sided deals they concluded with the U.S. provide little protection,’’ said former U.S. trade negotiator Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “As a result, trade diversification efforts by our partners are on turbo charge, looking to reduce dependence on the U.S.’’

Trump supporters such as Paul Winfree, who was deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term, are wary of the relative decline in U.S. Treasury note holdings by foreign central banks and view the national debt as a vulnerability rivals would like to exploit.

Winfree, CEO of the Economic Policy Innovation Institute, a think tank, said that some of Trump's advisers do not feel America has fully benefited from the dollar's status as the world's dominant currency.

“But the fact remains that every other country is jealous of our status, and many of our adversaries would love to challenge the U.S. dollar and Treasuries,” he said.

White House spokesman Kush Desai insists America's standing on the global stage has not been diminished.

“President Trump remains committed to the strength and power of the U.S. Dollar as the world’s reserve currency," he said.

India and the EU clinch a long-awaited deal

The most eye-opening deal so far has been the pact announced last week between the 27-country EU and India, the world’s fastest growing major economy. Negotiators had been at it for nearly two decades before they closed the agreement.

Likewise, an EU trade deal announced two weeks ago with the Mercosur nations of South America took a quarter century of negotiation. It will create a free-trade market of more than 700 million people.

“Some of these deals have been in the works for quite some time,’’ said Maurice Obstfeld, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “The pressure from Trump made them more eager to accelerate the process and reach agreement.’’

EU exporters were jubilant over the India deal. VDMA, a group of European machinery and plant engineering companies, welcomed lower Indian tariffs on machinery.

“The free trade agreement between India and the EU brings much needed oxygen to a world increasingly dominated by trade conflicts,” VDMA’s executive director, Thilo Brodtmann, said in a statement. “With this agreement, Europe is sending a clear signal in favor of rules-based trade and against the law of the jungle.”

'We have all the cards’

On Monday, Trump went on social media to announce his own deal with India. The U.S., he posted, would reduce tariffs on Indian imports after India agreed to stop buying oil from Russia, which has used the sales to fund its four year war in Ukraine.

The president said that India would reduce its tariffs on American products to zero and buy $500 billion worth of American products. Trade lawyer Ryan Majerus, a partner at the King & Spalding and a trade official in the Biden administration and during Trump's first term, said that businesses and legal analysts were awaiting official White House documents spelling out details of the deal.

Trump is banking on there being limits to other countries’ ability to pull away from the United States. America has the world’s biggest economy and consumer market. “We have all the cards,’’ Trump told Fox Business this month.

Countries like South Korea, dependent on America’s market and military protection, can’t afford to ignore Trump’s threats. On Monday, for example, the president said he was increasing tariffs on South Korea goods because the country’s legislature has been slow to approve the trade framework announced last year. On Tuesday, the country’s Finance Ministry responded by saying its chief, Koo Yun-cheol, would push lawmakers to quickly approve a bill to invest $350 billion as promised in the agreement.

"The U.S was trying to identify a counterpart that would find it difficult to refuse U.S. demands outright, given the depth of its economic and security ties,” said Cha Du Hyeogn, an analyst at South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Or consider Canada, which sends 75% of its exports to its southern neighbor. “Canada and U.S. will always be tightly linked through international trade,” said Obstfeld, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “We’re talking about adjustments more or less on the margin.’

But the world’s growing rejection of Trump’s policies is already having an impact, driving down the value of the dollar, long the currency of choice for global commerce, to its lowest level since 2022 last week versus several competing currencies.

Syracuse University political scientist Daniel McDowell, author of the book “Bucking the Buck: U.S. Financial Sanctions and the International Backlash against the Dollar,” sees a vibe shift under Trump: Foreign countries and investors want to reduce their exposure to the United States, which has moved from a source of security and stability to a driver of instability and unpredictability under Trump.

“Trump has shown that he is willing to use foreign countries’ economic dependence on the U.S. as leverage against them in negotiations,” McDowell said. “As global perceptions of the US are changing, it is only natural that investors — public and private alike — are reconsidering their relationship with the dollar.”

____

Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. Associated Press videographer Yong Jun Chang in Seoul and AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.

As a parade of US allies rattled by Trump visit China, Beijing claims a win for its new world order

Analysis by Simone McCarthy, CNN
Mon, February 2, 2026 


British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits the Forbidden City in Beijing last week. - Kin Cheung/Getty Images


As US President Donald Trump takes a sledgehammer to longstanding alliances with a volatile foreign policy that’s included threats to take control of Greenland and a spiraling feud with Canada, he’s also creating a significant opening for China.

Look no further than the revolving door of Western leaders hosted by Xi Jinping in recent weeks aiming to reset relations or deepen cooperation with the world’s second-largest economy.

That procession includes the leaders of some of the US’ closest traditional allies: Britain’s Keir Starmer and Canada’s Mark Carney last month, as well as NATO ally Finland’s Petteri Orpo. French President Emmanuel Macron made a visit in December, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected soon.

Viewed from Beijing, that list is a powerful sign that an era of talking about economic separation from China is waning, and Western leaders are finally seeing China as a reliable partner – in contrast to the US under Trump.

Visiting leaders have praised relations with China as key to international stability or their own national security – a far cry from the recently prevailing orthodoxy among G7 leaders that China was a challenge to the rules-based international order.

And in broader conversations taking place across gatherings like the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Western leaders are openly acknowledging that the US-backed post-1945 order is being eclipsed – a view not completely out of step with China’s.

The European Union “has really been bullied by the US and it’s only human nature to seek outside support when you’re being pushed around. That’s why Europe is actually open to the idea of strengthening ties with China,” Jin Canrong, an international relations expert at Renmin University in Beijing, said in a recent analysis.

Chinese foreign policy thinkers are under few illusions that American allies are about to wipe clean a list of ongoing concerns about China – from trade to human rights to security – or mount a sweeping shift to Beijing at the expense of ties with Washington.

But as Xi continues to push to forge a more China-friendly world, Beijing seems well aware of the major potential benefits from the seismic shift underway.

That’s especially true when it comes to ensuring its aims to dominate high-tech – and expand its global trade, clout and military might – meet less resistance.

People wait for the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron at the University of Sichuan for a meeting with students in China's Chengdu in December. - Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images
The end of ‘collective confrontation’?

Already the recent diplomatic parade in the Chinese capital has amounted to an opportunity to repair relations with key Western economies.

Carney in his visit – the first from a Canadian prime minister since 2017 – relaxed stringent tariffs on China-made electric vehicles that Canada had imposed in lockstep with the US in exchange for an easing of barriers on Canadian agricultural goods.

Separately, Beijing and the European Union last month came to an agreement to replace tariffs on Chinese EVs with commitments to sell at minimum prices – easing a longstanding friction based around Europe’s concern that artificially cheap cars from China, far and away the leader of global production, would devastate its domestic auto industry.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Beijing and then Shanghai during his four-day trip last month. - Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images

Starmer, making the first trip by a British leader in eight years, praised business opportunities in China for the UK, days after his government green-lighted plans for China to build a controversial “mega” embassy close to London’s financial district.

“Realism” is at work in European leaders’ recent diplomacy toward China, according to Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London.

“Mistrust of China remains deep, particularly over Chinese support for Russian war efforts in Ukraine … (but) European states cannot ignore China, particularly when the US is going ‘rogue’ from their perspective.”

European governments in recent years ramped up scrutiny of China’s role in areas from telecoms networks and critical infrastructure to education – and followed US cues to restrict the sale of advanced semiconductor technology over national security concerns.

They’ve also grown increasingly alarmed by China’s gaping trade surplus and are working on ways to protect their industries, some of which analysts say face an existential threat from an influx of heavily subsidized Chinese goods. (Macron, during his December visit to China, said he threatened EU tariffs if the trade surplus isn’t addressed.)

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at Sichuan University during a meeting with students in the city of Chengdu in southwestern China on December 5, 2025.

 - Sarah Meyssonnier/AFP/Getty Images

It remains to be seen how willing the EU and its member countries are to downplay these concerns or reorient their policies on China (which the bloc has described as an “economic competitor and a systemic rival”), even in the face of Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff threats and his rattling of NATO.

European leaders including Starmer, who had pushed for tighter UK-China ties prior to Trump’s election, have insisted they don’t have to come at the expense of security.

And the EU appears to be keeping its foot on the pedal. Last month it released a new proposal to phase out components and equipment from “high-risk” suppliers in critical sectors, expected to affect Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, after late last year ramping up screening of foreign investments. Addressing the trade surplus and reducing dependence on China’s critical minerals also remains high on the EU agenda.

Still, voices within China are optimistic.

“Some Western countries, under US leadership, have attempted and advocated collective confrontation against China and decoupling from China,” Wang Wen, a professor at Renmin University, wrote in a recent commentary, referring to efforts to separate supply chains from China.

“However, reality has repeatedly proven that the ‘decoupling theory’ and the ‘new Cold War’ are not only unpopular but also difficult to truly implement.”
A new world order

Other Chinese analysts have suggested that with the US exit from more than two dozen United Nations bodies – and Trump’s effort to set up a parallel “Board of Peace” – Europe will simply need China more as an international counterweight.

“In order to maintain the multilateral system, (Europe) may need to compromise with China on trade and economic issues,” Ye Weimian, a researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, wrote in an analysis, pointing to areas like tariffs, technology access restrictions, and even a stalled China-EU investment agreement.

Honor guards prepare for a welcome ceremony for Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last week. - Kin Cheung/AFP/Getty Images

Nonetheless, Beijing has pushed back against a narrative that it aims to “take advantage” of a rift between the US and its allies. Instead, it frames the warming of relations as proof of the appeal of its own market – and its vision for the world.

“This is an inevitable result of China’s development benefiting the world and continuously injecting stability and certainty into the international community,” an editorial in the state-backed outlet Global Times said last month.

Chinese analysts have also pointed to the US’ own climb-down on frictions with China as part of this recognition. The two sides reached an agreement to de-escalate trade tensions last fall. That was after Beijing played its trump card of stopping the flow of rare earth minerals, waking up the world to its outsized control over their supply chains.

More importantly for Beijing, the US has moved away from framing China as an ideological challenger, to simply a competitor in an economic and strategic sense.

That shift dovetails with China’s broader vision for the world order: one no longer dominated by what it sees as American values and alliances, where countries aren’t bound to one another in ideological or security blocs, but instead make calculations based on shared economic and strategic interests.

And at a time when European voices are acknowledging that a “new world order” is taking shape, Beijing wants to frame its own vision for that order as one whose time has come.

“It’s less about these countries choosing China,” the Global Times editorial read. “And more about them choosing to follow the trend of the times.”

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

WAIT, WHAT?!

Small Business Administration says legal permanent residents will be ineligible for its loan program, effective March 1

MAE ANDERSON
Tue, February 3, 2026 



FILE - Small Business Administration administrator Kelly Loeffler listens during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Capitol Hill, May 21, 2025, in Washington. 

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)


NEW YORK (AP) — The Small Business Administration said in a policy note that green card holders won't be allowed to apply for SBA loans, effective March 1.

The move is the latest by the SBA as it works to tighten loan restrictions and restructure the agency.

Last year, it tightened a requirement that businesses applying for loans must be 100% owned by U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents, up from a 51% standard.

In December, it issued a policy note that said up to 5% of a business could be non-citizen owned. But the current policy rescinds that, as well as making lawful permanent residents ineligible, too.

“The Trump SBA is committed to driving economic growth and job creation for American citizens – which is why, effective March 1, the agency will no longer guarantee loans for small businesses owned by foreign nationals," said SBA spokesperson Maggie Clemmons in an emailed statement. “Across every program, the SBA is ensuring that every taxpayer dollar entrusted to this agency goes to support U.S. job creators and innovators.”

The SBA doesn’t give out direct loans, except when they’re related to disasters, but it works with lenders to distribute loans to small businesses. The loans typically have better rates than traditional loans.

Small business advocacy group the Small Business Majority said the move is “a decision that will limit the growth of small businesses and jobs throughout the United States.”

“The latest decision by SBA fails to recognize that immigrants are twice as likely to start a business as native-born U.S. citizens,” said Small Business Majority CEO John Arensmeyer. “Given that reality, SBA’s severe restrictions will have a negative impact on small business creation throughout this country for years to come.”

Trump Is Too Scared to Go to the Super Bowl After His Aides’ Humiliating Warning

Trump Aides Reportedly Warned President He’ll Likely Get Booed If He Goes to Super Bowl

Ewan Palmer
Wed, February 4, 2026 

The Daily Beast 


Bob Kupbens/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images


Donald Trump will not be attending the Super Bowl after being warned he would likely be resoundingly booed by the crowd inside the stadium, according to a report.

The thin-skinned president had previously offered the unlikely excuse that he would not attend the NFL championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots on Sunday in Santa Clara, California, because it was “too far away” and because he disliked the planned performers, Bad Bunny and Green Day.

However, several of Trump’s advisers have now told Zeteo that the 79-year-old was urged not to attend the game in the deep-blue Democratic state because he would likely receive a less-than-friendly reception.

Clips of Trump being loudly booed in front of tens of thousands of spectators—and potentially more than 100 million viewers at home—going viral would be “another thing we don’t want right now,” one Trump adviser told Zeteo.

Donald Trump did not consider last year's Super Bowl in New Orleans

Trump was met with a mixture of boos and cheers when he attended last year’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.

But since then his approval ratings have plummeted across the board, with the president losing support over his handling of the economy and his hardline immigration policies, particularly in the wake of the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Trump’s dire polling numbers, combined with the Super Bowl being held in a state that has overwhelmingly rejected him in the past three presidential elections, led one aide to conclude it was “best to stay away from this one.”

“Whatever [the crowd’s makeup] ends up being, it’s not gonna be a Turning Point USA speech,” the aide said.

Trump told the New York Post last month that he would skip this year’s Super Bowl because he was unhappy that Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny would be performing the halftime show. Veteran punk rockers Green Day, who are also vocal critics of the president, are performing at the Super Bowl opening ceremony.

“I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible,” Trump said.

Turning Point USA announced that MAGA country singer Kid Rock will headline its “All American Halftime Show,” scheduled to take place at the same time as the official halftime performance from Latin superstar Bad Bunny, who predominantly sings in Spanish.

Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist in the world on Spotify in 2025, and was the first Latin artist to win album of the year at this year's Grammy Awards. / Matt Winkelmeyer / Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording AcademyMore

Trump also offered the dubious explanation that he was unwilling to travel to California because it was “just too far away,” despite regularly flying around the world and having attended last year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.


He told the New York Post that he would be welcomed by the crowd if he dared to go. “They like me,” he said.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle insisted that Trump would receive a warm welcome if he attended Super Bowl LX in person.

“President Trump is working hard on behalf of the American people,” Ingle told Zeteo. “If he did attend the Super Bowl, he would receive a warm welcome because America knows he has done more to help this country than any other president in history.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.





NFL Sends Muted Warning to Bad Bunny Before Super Bowl Halftime Performance Amid ICE Controversy

Keshav Pareek
Wed, February 4, 2026 



February 1, 2026, Los Angeles, California, USA: Bad Bunny on the red carpet of the 68th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday February 1, 2026 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. 

JAVIER ROJAS/PI Los Angeles US

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expects Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show to be a moment of unity despite the singer's recent criticism of the Trump administration's immigration policies.

The stage is set for Bad Bunny to headline the Super Bowl halftime show when the New England Patriots face the Seattle Seahawks on February 8. But just days before the performance, the focus has shifted from football and spectacle to messaging. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the Puerto Rican superstar after Bad Bunny used the Grammys stage to criticize the Donald Trump administration’s federal immigration enforcement surge, while also making it clear that the league expects the halftime show to be a moment of unity.

“Bad Bunny is one of the great artists in the world. That’s one of the reasons we chose him,” Goodell told reporters. “The other reason is he understood the platform and that this platform is to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents, to be able to use this moment to do that. I think Bad Bunny understands that, and I think he’ll have a great performance.”

Goodell’s comments came against the backdrop of growing tension between Bad Bunny and Trump amid the ongoing ICE controversy. The singer, who topped Spotify’s streaming charts in four of the past six years, has already taken a public stance on the issue. Though there was no explicit warning, the emphasis on unity amidst the rising tension read like a muted warning for the artist.

Earlier last year, the singer said he deliberately avoided performing in the United States on his current world tour, citing concerns that ICE agents could conduct raids on fans attending his shows.

That tension only intensified once the NFL announced Bad Bunny as the halftime performer. Trump quickly dismissed the decision as “absolutely ridiculous” in October 2025. He later doubled down in January by confirming he would not attend the Patriots–Seahawks game. His reasoning was straightforward. The president said he was not a fan of either Bad Bunny or American rock band Green Day, who are set to open the show.

Fast forward to the Grammy Awards, and the situation escalated further. Bad Bunny made history on the awards night by becoming the first Latin artist to win Album of the Year. But the milestone moment also turned into a statement. During his acceptance speech, the 31-year-old openly criticized the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say, ICE out. We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans. I know it’s tough to not hate these days. I was thinking, sometimes we get contaminados [contaminated]. … The hate gets more powerful with more hate.”

On the podium, the artist did not mince his words as a loud applause followed. He ended his speech just as emphatically.

“So please, we need to be different if we fight, we have to do it with love,” the artist added. “If, yeah, we don’t hate them. We love our people. We love our family, and that’s the way to do it. With love. Don’t forget that, please.”

Naturally, that speech sparked immediate questions about whether Bad Bunny would bring similar messaging to the Super Bowl stage. Goodell, however, has made it clear that he does not expect that to happen. The commissioner emphasized that he believes the singer understands the difference between platforms and the responsibility that comes with performing during the most-watched broadcast of the year.

Meanwhile, the NFL has also stated that ICE will not be present at the Super Bowl, seemingly aiming to lower the temperature around an already charged conversation.
The NFL claims that ICE won’t be at the Super Bowl

Amid the ongoing ICE controversy, the NFL has maintained that ICE will not be present at the Super Bowl. The statement came from the league’s Chief Security Officer, Cathy Lanier. Lanier addressed the issue during a security briefing with reporters ahead of the game. Lanier said ICE has no plans to carry out immigration enforcement related to the event.




“There are no planned ICE or immigration enforcement operations that are scheduled around the Super Bowl or any of the Super Bowl-related events,” he said. “The federal presence here is consistent with past Super Bowls, and other sporting events like what you will see around the World Cup and the Olympics as well.”

However, Lanier’s assurance appears to clash with earlier public statements made by officials from the Department of Homeland Security. In October, DHS advisor Corey Lewandowski said on a podcast that the Super Bowl would not serve as a haven for individuals targeted by ICE.

Anonymous NFL player thinks Super Bowl Halftime Show performer ‘should always be an American.’ Bad Bunny is just that


“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” Lewandowski said. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you.”

That stance stands in contrast to reporting from the Associated Press. The AP noted that DHS official Jeff Brannigan privately told local law enforcement and the NFL that ICE does not plan to conduct enforcement operations in or around the Super Bowl.

ICE's Super Bowl Game Plan Revealed In Washington Post Report

Ron Dicker
Tue, February 3, 2026 


Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not following through on threats to conduct immigration enforcement operations at Sunday’s Super Bowl, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The newspaper obtained a document from the host committee to elected officials in San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Jose after the committee spoke with NFL security and law enforcement on Friday.

Buzz: Bad Bunny Ribs Fox News Over Super Bowl Outrage During 'SNL'

“We have been in daily contact with the NFL, which has confirmed the following with the Department of Homeland Security: There are no planned ICE immigration enforcement operations associated with SBLX,” the committee’s letter went.

In “coordination with NFL security and local law enforcement, DHS will have federal agents at the Super Bowl to keep fans safe ... federal security presence at SBLX is consistent with past Super Bowls and comparable to how DHS protects other major sporting events like the Olympics and World Cup.”

Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks speaks with the media during Super Bowl LX Opening Night on Monday. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Like this article? Keep independent journalism alive. Support HuffPost.

In October, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made veiled threats to those who are not “American” about ICE presence at the big game in Santa Clara, California. The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots have since advanced to the big game.

“We’ll be all over that place,” she told right-wing journalist Benny Johnson. “We’re gonna enforce the law. So I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country.”

Before that, DHS adviser Corey Lewandowski made a more direct threat when asked if ICE would “have enforcement at the Super Bowl for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show.”

“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” Lewandowski replied. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility and we will deport you.”

In a statement to HuffPost, DHS said it would not give details of its Super Bowl operation but added, “Those who are here legally and are not breaking other laws have nothing to fear.”

A letter from the Super Bowl host committee, obtained by The Washington Post, says federal agents (right) have no planned operations associated with the big game. Getty

The NFL announcement that Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar who has been critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, would be performing the halftime show set off a wave of right-wing objections last year.

The rapper fired another salvo at Trump and Co. during the Grammy Awards on Sunday. “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out,” he said. “We are not savage. We are not animals. We are not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.”

DHS agents have received intensified scrutiny after killing two protesters in Minneapolis last month.

Protests even reached the Winter Olympics in Italy when people in Milan demonstrated against ICE’s presence even though the agency will not be deployed in the streets.