It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
‘Are We Really Living in a Democracy?’ Asks Sanders After Musk Drops $10 Million on US Senate Race
“Billionaires can’t be allowed to buy elections.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)speaks during New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ceremonial inauguration at City Hall on January 1, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
After flirting last year with forming his own political party, far-right billionaire Elon Musk is funding Republican political candidates once again.
Axios reported on Monday that Musk recently made a massive $10 million donation to bolster Nate Morris, a MAGA candidate who is vying to replace retiring US Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Axios described the massive donation, the largest Musk has ever given to a Senate candidate, as “the biggest sign yet that Musk plans to spend big in the 2026 midterms, giving Republicans a formidable weapon in the expensive battle to keep their congressional majorities.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reacted with disgust to the news, and said that Musk’s enormous donation was indicative of a broken campaign finance system.
“Are we really living in a democracy when the richest man on earth can spend as much as he wants to elect his candidates?” Sanders asked in a social media post.
“The most important thing our nation can do is end Citizens United and move to public funding of elections,” he added, referring to the 2010 Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for unlimited spending on elections by corporations. “Billionaires can’t be allowed to buy elections.”
Democratic Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap, currently running to represent Maine’s second congressional district, also denounced Musk for throwing his weight around to buy politicians.
“Billionaires buy our elections, rig the tax code, and undermine our democracy,” wrote Dunlap. “Working people deserve a government that works for them—not for billionaires like Elon Musk.”
Musk is no stranger to spending big to help elect Republicans, having spent more than $250 million in 2024 to help secure President Donald Trump’s victory.
However, his riches are no guarantee of a GOP win. Last year, for example, Musk spent millions to elect former Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel to a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, only to wind up losing the race by 10 points.
These familiar steps show how Trump is walking us into autocracy
In his story about the search at Hannah Natanson’s home, at which FBI agents said they were searching for materials related to a federal government contractor, Post reporter Perry Stein wrote that “it is highly unusual and aggressive for law enforcement to conduct a search on a reporter’s home.”
And Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, told the New York Times the raid was “intensely concerning,” and could have a chilling effect “on legitimate journalistic activity.”
While the United States remains institutionally far removed from countries like Russia, the Trump administration has taken troubling early steps toward autocracy by threatening — and in some cases implementing — restrictions on free speech and independent media. Public ignorance, free speech and independent media
Ignorance about what public officials do exists in every political system.
In democracies, citizens often remain uninformed because learning about politics takes time and effort, while one vote rarely changes an election. American economist Anthony Downs called this “rational ignorance,” and it is made worse by complex laws and bureaucracy that few people fully understand.
As a result, voters often lack the information needed to monitor politicians or hold them accountable, giving officials more room to act in their own interest.
Free speech and independent media are essential for breaking this cycle. They allow citizens, journalists and opposition leaders to expose corruption and criticize those in power.
Open debate helps people share grievances and organize collective action, from protests to campaigns.
Independent media also act as watchdogs, investigating wrongdoing and raising the political cost of abuse – making it harder for leaders to get away with corruption or incompetence.
When free speech and independent journalism disappear, citizens are less likely to learn about government corruption or failures. Ignorance becomes the regime’s ally — it keeps people isolated and uninformed. By censoring information, autocrats create an information vacuum that prevents citizens from making informed choices or organizing protests.
At the same time, the Kremlin built a vast propaganda machine to shape public opinion. This control over information helped protect the regime during crises. As I noted in a recent article, many Russians were unaware of Putin’s responsibility for military failures in 2022. State media used propaganda to shift blame to the military leadership — preserving Putin’s popularity even as the war faltered.
Threat to independent media in the US
While the United States remains far from an autocracy, the Trump administration has taken steps that echo the behavior of authoritarian regimes.
Consider the use of lawsuits to intimidate journalists. In Singapore, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Lee Hsien Loong, routinely used civil defamation suits to silence reporters who exposed government repression or corruption. These tactics discouraged criticism and encouraged self-censorship.
President Donald Trump has taken a similar approach, seeking US$15 billion from the New York Times for publication of several allegedly “malicious” articles, and $10 billion from the Wall Street Journal. The latter suit concerns a story about a letter Trump reportedly signed in Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday book.
Although Kimmel was later reinstated, the episode revealed how the administration could use the autocratic technique of bureaucratic pressure to suppress speech it disagreed with. Combined with efforts to prosecute the president’s perceived enemies through the Justice Department, such actions inevitably encourage media self-censorship and deepen public ignorance.
Threat to free speech
Autocrats often invoke “national security” to pass laws restricting free speech. Russia’s “foreign agents” law, passed in 2012, forced nongovernmental organizations with foreign funding to label themselves as such, becoming a tool for silencing dissenting advocacy groups. Its 2022 revision broadened the definition, letting the Kremlin target anyone who criticized the government.
Similar laws have appeared in Hungary, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. Russia also uses vague “terrorist” and “extremist” designations to punish those who protest and dissent, all under the guise of “national security.”
The latter move is especially troubling, pushing the United States closer to the behavior characteristic of autocratic governments. The vagueness of the designation threatens to suppress free expression and opposition to the Trump administration.
Antifa is not an organization but a “decentralized collection of individual activists,” as scholar Stanislav Vysotsky describes it. The scope of those falling under the antifa label is widened by its identification with broad ideas, described in a national security memorandum issued by the Trump administration in the fall of 2025, like anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity. This gives the government leeway to prosecute an unprecedented number of individuals for their speech.
As scholar Melinda Haas writes, the memorandum “pushes the limits of presidential authority by targeting individuals and groups as potential domestic terrorists based on their beliefs rather than their actions.”
Bishop declares war on Trump admin with fiery MLK Day speech: 'We shall get through this!'
Bishop William Barber vowed to "overcome" the Trump administration in his Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech in New York City.
During his MLK Day speech on Monday, Barber tied the fight against Trump to the song "We Shall Overcome."
"And I stop by to say that we need to sing it and live it. We shall overcome," he explained. "I don't care what Trump does. I don't care what [Stephen] Miller does. The Lord is my shepherd. I don't care what they do. God shall supply all our needs according to his riches in heaven."
"We shall overcome," he continued. "We shall get through this mess. We shall vote like never before. We shall stand up one more time. We shall organize. We shall look forward. We shall get up from this mess. We shall see a new America. Yes, we shall!"
"And the glory shall be undaunted. See it! Together! We shall overcome! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Top disease experts become dog-walkers and yoga instructors after Trump's CDC purge
Thousands of seasoned epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists have fled the agency following the Trump administration's dramatic staff reductions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving some of the world's top medical minds scrambling for work, The New York Times reported Monday night.
Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, 54, a decorated veteran with a veterinary degree who spent years battling emerging zoonotic diseases, ditched her corner office for early retirement and now spends her days at an animal shelter and riding horses.
"It was my calling," she explained. "I don't mourn the loss at this moment, because I don't believe the agency is the same agency I worked in."
She took early retirement, fearing the agency had departed from its commitment to science.
The exodus has decimated Atlanta's once-proud public health ecosystem. The CDC workforce plummeted from roughly 13,500 employees at the start of 2025 to fewer than 10,000 by October, according to former agency leaders who resigned in protest. Former epidemiologist Dr. Elizabeth Soda, who developed health screening protocols for immigrants and refugees, fled to Italy with her family after a gunman fired dozens of rounds through CDC headquarters in August.
"We go through massive, real guilt moments," Soda said. "That’s one of the hardest things being here, to be honest, is knowing what we’ve left behind, who we’ve left behind — family, friends, our country."
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s controversial vision has left the nation vulnerable to emerging threats like mpox and Zika, critics warn. Public trust in the CDC has cratered to 62 percent, down from 88 percent in 2020.
Trump boosts call for Don Lemon to get 40-year prison sentence
President Donald Trump amplified a call for a former CNN host to be sentenced to 40 years in prison for attending a protest at a church in Minneapolis on Sunday.
Don Lemon, who hosted CNN's "Don Lemon Tonight" from 2014 to 2022, attended a protest on Sunday morning organized by anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement activists at Cities Church in St. Paul, whose pastor, David Easterwood, appears to also lead the agency's local field office.
In the wake of the protest, fans of Trump's MAGA movement called for Lemon and the protesters to be arrested.
"A small group of elderly ladies were protesting at an abortion clinic and were given 40 years in prison for violating the FACE Act," the post Trump shared read in part. "I would like to see the same kind of sentence for Don Lemon and the people that (sic) broke into the church during the service."
Trump's post happened as his immigration policies face mounting criticism from Democrats. ICE officer Jonathan Ross recently shot and killed a Minneapolis mother named Renee Good, 37, who was trying to leave the scene of an immigration raid in her neighborhood.
Good's killing revived calls for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached or resign.
Move Over Greenland, Will Egomaniac Trump Threaten to Invade Norway Next?
Nobody knows where our ship is sailing, including our current captain. That makes for a very dangerous, bellicose world. People wave Greenlandic flags as they take part in a demonstration that gathered almost a third of the city population to protest against the US President’s plans to take Greenland, on January 17, 2026 in Nuuk, Greenland. Photo by Alessandro RAMPAZZO / AFP via Getty Images
Presidents say stupid things. It’s inevitable, because they talk so damn much, and it is human to stumble into sounding awkward or even dumb. The most interesting gaffes are always revealing. Here are a few memorable ones:Jimmy Carter: “I’ve looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me.”
Richard Nixon: “When the President does it, that means it’s not illegal.” • Bill Clinton: “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” Joe Biden: “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”
There’s an extensive list from President Trump, but this one might be the number one of all time:
“I can’t think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel prize more than me.”
True enough. Trump probably can’t think of anyone other than himself who deserves the award or any other accolade including renaming the Kennedy Center after himself. Greatest president of all time? Of course.
But it’s hard to imagine without cringing how he or any human, really, could make such a boastful statement. And how could he demand the Peace Prize just days after his invasion of Venezuela, repeated killing of civilians on alleged drug boats, and initiating the threatening drumbeat against Greenland. Then there’s his changing the Department of Defense’s name to the Department of War. Last I heard, war is the opposite of peace.
Trump is doing now what he always does: He puts a claim on what he wants and then pressures people to give it to him. “Stop the Steal” was no different than his campaign for the Peace Prize. Whatever he wants, he thinks, should be his, and he will do all he can to reshape the world so that it comes his way. And when it doesn’t, it’s people being unfair to him. He’s the victim for not getting the Nobel.
But it’s not a joke. On January 19, Trump sent a text to Jonas Gahr Store, Norway’s leader, saying “Considering that your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
But you’ve got to wonder how much anyone’s ego can expand without an explosion of some sort. Most of us mortals get squeamish when bragging about ourselves. A few athletes have been able to pull it off, like Mohammed Ali’s “I am the greatest!” (He was.) Or Joe Namath’s “We’re going to win [the Superbowl] Sunday. I guarantee it.” (They did.)
But a boxer in the ring and a quarterback on the field must continually prove it or they lose face. Trump does not. He can claim he’s the greatest peace president ever, just by saying it, even if he goes to war while doing so. The people who point out that he isn’t are quickly branded liars, Marxists, idiots, losers, ugly, and operating under TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome).
Does bragging in general have social benefits that lead people like Trump to incessantly exaggerate their talents and accomplishments? A recent study found it may make them sexier!
“Seen from an evolutionary perspective, strategic self-promotion might have evolved as a beneficial psychological mechanism in mating competition.”
But there’s a downside, a big one. The noted psychologist Carl Jung in 1944 warned: An inflated consciousness is always egocentric and conscious of nothing but its own existence. It is incapable of learning from the past, incapable of understanding contemporary events, and incapable of drawing right conclusions about the future. It is hypnotized by itself and therefore cannot be argued with. It inevitably dooms itself to calamities that must strike it dead.
Is there some kind of limit to ego expansion after which the “inevitable doom” strikes? If so, then we should all be worried. We have no idea what might happen if that limit is breached. It’s one thing for an inflated ego to feed off adoring MAGA fans who see Trump as another Joe Namath. But the danger is multiplied many times over because Trump’s ego now commands the mightiest military machine in the history of the world. If war comes to mean peace, duck and cover.
I can understand why some of my brothers and sisters in the labor movement gravitated towards Trump. He promised to save jobs and make the economy work again for working people. And many were deeply disappointed that the Democrats, on their watch, failed to mitigate millions of unnecessary mass layoffs. But Trump’s working-class support may be fading as mass layoffs continue and the cost of living rises. Increasingly working people understand that Trump’s priority is for himself, enriching his family, and boosting his billionaire buddies. And my guess is that Trump’s inflated ego is turning off many of his working-class fans who value performance over boastfulness.
But some people believe they have no choice but to play a symphony on Trump’s ever expanding ego. Maria Corina Machado, the leader of the democratic opposition in Venezuela, gave her Nobel Prize to Trump in the hope that he would soon call for elections so that she could run again. After all, her party had the 2024 election stolen from them by the now imprisoned Nicolas Maduro, and his vice-president Delcy Rodriguez, who Trump has chosen to run the country instead of Machado.
But the flagrant fawning didn’t seem to work. Trump cares more about Venezuelan oil, and supports the entrenched Maduro autocrats who can facilitate its export. He hasn’t yet said anything about stolen elections and restoring democracy in Venezuela.
He also knows the difference between a hand-me-down Peace Prize and the real thing. Here’s what he said on Truth Social soon after Machado’s gift-giving: Without my involvement Russia would have ALL OF UKRAINE right now. Remember also I single handedly ENDED 8 WARS. And Norway, a NATO member, foolishly chose not to give me the Noble [sic] Peace Prize. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I saved Millions of Lives…..
Uh oh, Norway, not just the Nobel Committee, is now the target. To paraphrase Marco Rubio’s warning to Cuba after the Venezuela invasion, “If I lived in Oslo and I was in the government, I’d be concerned.”
Nobody knows where our ship is sailing, including our current captain. That makes for a very dangerous, bellicose world. If ego inflation continues to run amok, not aground, perhaps the next battle for peace will be an incursion into ungrateful Norway to extradite the Nobel committee and return the coveted prize to its rightful recipient.
Let’s hope that’s a joke and not a prophecy.
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Donald Trump gestures after speaking in Quantico, Virginia. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has slammed Donald Trump over a letter the president sent to Norway.
In it, Trump confirmed to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre the US would look to subsume Greenland into its territory for the purpose of national security. In his letter, Trump also told Frederiksen that NATO members would have to do something for the US, rather than the US doing something for them.
The letter reads, "Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America."
"Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also."
"I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT."
Buttigieg has since denounced the letter and called on Americans to push back against Trump's rhetoric and keep the pressure on the GOP when it comes to healthcare subsidies.
He said in a video posted to his YouTube channel, "On the House side, pressure works, do not let up. Don't let up on Senate Republicans, and don't let up on the White House that those Senate Republicans tend to obey."
"Meanwhile, the president sent an unhinged message to Norway, like a 'take away the car keys' level of crazy message. Basically saying because the Norwegian government didn't give him the Nobel Peace Prize, the Danish government needs to give him Greenland or else he will punish all of Europe."
"This isn't just crazy and embarrassing, it is dangerous. These are our allies. I remember serving side by side with troops from Denmark in Afghanistan. These alliances have kept us safe for generations. Tearing them up makes all of us less safe, here at home."
Buttigieg went on to say Trump is bringing about a "destabilizing event" for the western world.
Imbecile Trump Threatens Americans With $75 Billion Tax Hike So He Can Conquer Greenland
If you missed Trump’s plans to hit us with this tax hike it’s because of the consistently awful reporting we get from major media outlets.
The headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) is seen behind shipping containers of the Frankfurt container port on January 19, 2026 in Frankfurt, Germany. European leaders are scheduled to meet later this week to coordinate their response to the latest tariffs threat from U.S. Donald Trump. Trump recently announced he will impose punitive tariffs on European countries he sees as obstructing his desire to acquire Greenland. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)
Donald Trump is taking his demented dreams to a new level in his quest to take over Greenland. The man who whined over not getting a Nobel Prize and then followed Hitler propagandist Joseph Goebbels lead in accepting a prize awarded to someone else, has now decided he wants Greenland.
Trump is now proposing to whack us with a $75 billion tax increase to put pressure on Denmark and the rest of the EU to give him Greenland. If you missed Trump’s plans to hit us with this tax hike it’s because of the consistently awful reporting we get from major media outlets.
They reported on the tariffs Trump is imposing on the European countries most visible in resisting U.S. pressure to take Greenland. The problem with the reporting is that it implies the European countries pay the tariffs. They don’t, we do.
This is not a debatable point; the data are very clear. Well over 90 percent of the cost of a Trump tariff is borne by consumers or importers in the United States, not by the exporting countries. When Trump starts yelling “tariff, tariff, tariff,” he is yelling “tax, tax, tax,” and we’re the ones paying it. And $75 billion is not trivial. It’s one percent of the budget, more than twice the cost of the enhanced premiums for Obamacare policies that Trump says we can’t afford.
Let’s be clear, Trump wants Greenland because it is big. And he almost certainly thinks Greenland is far bigger than it actually is because he doesn’t understand that the Mercator projection maps, which are standard ones we all use, hugely exaggerate the size of areas near the poles.
No one likes the idea that the United States is being run by a moron.
We all know Trump says that he needs Greenland for national security. This argument is not worth a second’s consideration. Greenland and Denmark are both members of NATO. If he felt there was some need for putting additional military assets in or around Denmark, all he has to do is ask.
In fact, there were many more United States military installations in Denmark during the Cold War. We removed them after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Trump’s team themselves made it clear that Greenland is not a national security issue. The country is not even mentioned once in Trump’s National Security Strategy plan that was crafted just two months ago.
Trump effectively admitted this in an interview with the New York Times earlier this month. He acknowledged that he could address any security issues through negotiation with Greenland, Denmark, and the rest of NATO, but said Trump said that he would feel better “psychologically” taking over Greenland.
He compared it to the difference between owning and renting. Insofar as Trump feels a psychological need to own territory that is something that is best addressed through therapy, not military action against allies.
The other argument is that Greenland is rich in rare earth minerals, which Trump’s rich buddies are anxious to exploit. This is popular among people who want to highlight both Trump’s venality and also find rationality in what seems to be an otherwise crazy quest.
While no one should ever underestimate Trump’s corruption, the story doesn’t make any sense. First, it’s not clear that there is big money to be made on Greenland’s rare earth minerals. It is a remote area with little infrastructure. It will be extremely expensive to reach these minerals and would almost certainly take many years. Given developments in technology, it’s not even clear these minerals will still be of much value at the point anyone is able to bring them to the market.
But what’s even more damning for this line of argument is that they could start mining in Greenland tomorrow, if they think it would be profitable. Greenland is very open to foreign investment. If they think there is big money to be made by mining Greenland’s minerals, they would be doing it already.
Trump’s rich friends are undoubtedly pushing for him to take Greenland, he’ll probably give them better deals than Greenland would. Most importantly he will likely get rid of environmental regulations that Greenland’s government would demand.
But the cost of environmental regulations is not likely to be the sort of thing that would warrant a military invasion. Also, it probably is not a good sell to the people of Greenland that Trump wants to take away their ability to protect their environment.
At the end of the day, we really can’t escape the basic story, Trump wants Greenland because it is big. No one likes the idea that the United States is being run by a moron. And it’s painful for those of us left of center to acknowledge that this is who we losing to, not some evil genius. However, that happens to be the reality, and we need to recognize it.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Dean Baker is the co-founder and the senior economist of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). He is the author of several books, including "Getting Back to Full Employment: A Better bargain for Working People," "The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive," "The United States Since 1980," "Social Security: The Phony Crisis" (with Mark Weisbrot), and "The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer." He also has a blog, "Beat the Press," where he discusses the media's coverage of economic issues. Full Bio >
Scott Bessent just exposed 'insanity' behind Trump's latest ploy: analyst
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gives a statement during the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting, at the USA House venue, in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2026. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
President Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary just revealed the "insanity" behind Trump's ploy to control Greenland, according to one analyst
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined NBC News's "Meet the Press" on Sunday to discuss Trump's efforts to wrest control of Greenland from the Kingdom of Denmark. Will Saletan, writer for The Bulwark, discussed Bessent's interview in a new video for "Bulwark Takes," which he said was one of the most "embarrassing" of the entire administration.
"He's twisting himself into a pretzel to justify Trump's totally crazy threats against Greenland," Saletan said.
Trump has said that acquiring the country is in America's national interests, although experts have questioned some of the motives the Trump administration has floated to justify the move. The president has repeatedly threatened to invade Greenland, which Danish officials have said would be an "end of NATO" moment, and he recently imposed a 10% tariff on all goods from certain EU countries, including Denmark.
Bessent justified Trump's actions by arguing that the U.S. doesn't want to get dragged into someone else's war to defend the territory, and said the Trump administration is working off of "asymmetric information" to make its decisions about Greenland.
"See, that is information nobody else has," Saletan said. "Not the Danish government, which actually has sovereignty over Greenland and has way better intelligence than we do, and not the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who would know if we really did have secret information about Russia and China operating in Greenland. No, Trump and Bessant have information that is so secret they haven't shared it with anybody else. Almost as though they're making it up."
Stop ‘appeasing’ bully Trump, Amnesty chief tells Europe
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos - Copyright AFP Fabrice COFFRINI Elodie LE MAOU
The leader of global rights group Amnesty International urged European countries Monday to stop “appeasing” US President Donald Trump and resist him and other “bullies” who she said were intent on destroying the rules-based order in place since World War II.
“We need much more resistance,” Amnesty secretary general Agnes Callamard told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Europe’s credibility is at stake.”
Her comments came as Trump doubled down on his threats to take over Greenland “one way or the other”, insisting such a move is necessary for world security, prompting European countries to close ranks against his designs on the vast Danish territory.
German and French leaders denounced as “blackmail” Trump’s weekend threats to wield new tariffs against countries which oppose his plans for the Arctic island, suggesting Europe was preparing trade countermeasures.
But German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was due to meet Trump in Davos on Wednesday, also stressed that Europe was eager to “avoid any escalation” in the dispute.
– ‘Say no’ –
Callamard urged governments to show more “courage” and to “say no”.
“Stop thinking you can make deals with bullies, stop thinking you can agree to the rules of the predators and not become yourself a victim of them.”
The Amnesty chief highlighted that the US bid to seize Greenland was only the latest indication that the world is facing the “destruction of the rules-based order”.
She lamented that global and regional “superpowers” seemed “intent on destroying what has been established after World War II, dedicated to finding common rules to our common problems”.
Since Trump’s return to the White House a year ago, he has taken “a range of decisions that have led to the demise of many rules around the world”, while Russia was destroying the system “through its aggression in Ukraine”, she said.
European powers have been treading a thin line over Ukraine in recent months, relying on Washington to try to help settle the conflict but resisting terms too favourable to Moscow.
The post-WWII order “is also being destroyed by Israel that has completely ignored international law in its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” she added.
Amnesty and other rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel of carrying out a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a term vehemently rejected by the Israeli government.
Callamard stressed that the rules-based order was established in response to “a global war that had killed millions of people, as a response to extermination camps that had killed six million Jews, as a response to authoritarianism that had led to the most daunting global repression the world over”.
– ‘Abyss’ –
“The fact that it is now being destroyed without any plan B, just for the sake of destroying the rules, should send shivers to all of us,” she said, warning that the only alternative to the rules-based system was “falling down into an abyss”.
“That’s what we need to prevent.”
The Davos gathering this year is taking place under the tagline “A Spirit of Dialogue”, but Callamard warned “there is no evidence of dialogue” currently among the world’s decision-makers.
“There is evidence of bullying. There is evidence of destruction. There is evidence of countries using their military power, their economic power, to force others into agreeing to their one-sided deals.”
Such tactics had for the past 12 months been met with European “appeasement”.
“We have sought to appease the bully, the predator living in Washington,” she said.
“Where has this led us? To more and more attacks, to more and more threats.”
Callamard, who is French, recalled that the European project was not just about economics, but also about values, humanity and the rule of law.
“I’m hoping that our leaders will recall that… history and see in the current challenges a way of re-insisting on the European project and demanding human rights protection for the sake of humanity,” she said.
“That demands stopping the appeasement politics, (which) simply is not working”.
“Please stop it. Resist. Resist.”
Leading economist teaches Europe how to cripple Trump
Jesper Toennesen, the creator of the Anti-MAGA cap "Nu det NUUK!" which is sold in his clothing store McKorman on Noerrebrogade, looks on, in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 13, 2026. The message "Nu er det NUUK!" and "Make America go away" is embroidered on the cap. After the heated debate between the U.S., Greenland, and Denmark about Trump's renewed desire to take over Greenland, "Nu er det NUUK" has gone viral on the internet. The phrase "Nu er det NUUK!" refers to Greenland's capital Nuuk - and can be translated from Danish as "Enough is enough"
Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS
The leading French economist Gabriel Zucman is urging European governments to inflict financial pain on American billionaires in response to US President Donald Trump’s effort to seize control of Greenland, a mineral-rich island that some of Trump’s rich campaign donors see as a potentially massive profit opportunity.
“Europe should respond to Trump’s blackmail with targeted measures aimed not at American consumers, but at American billionaires,” Zucman wrote in a post on his Substack. “Access to the European market—by billionaires and the companies they own—should be made conditional on paying a wealth tax: in effect, a tariff for oligarchs. If Elon Musk, for example, wants to keep selling Teslas in Europe, he should have to pay it. If he refuses, Tesla would lose access to the European market.”Zucman outlined his proposal after Trumpthreatened over the weekend to hit France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland with tariffs up to 25% if they don’t drop their opposition to the US president’s demand for “the complete and total purchase of Greenland,” an autonomous territory of Denmark.
The targeted countries are currently weighing retaliatory tariffs and other potential responses to Trump’s threat.
Zucman, a renowned expert on global inequality, argued that while existing mechanisms such as the anti-coercion instrument known as Europe’s trade “bazooka” can be useful, “anti-oligarchic protectionism has a decisive advantage: It opens a two-front struggle against Trump, at home and abroad.”
“By targeting oligarchic wealth rather than national pride,” Zucman wrote, “Europe can blunt Trump’s ability to mobilize nationalist resentment and rally part of the American public behind his imperial agenda.”
Trump’s proposed Greenland takeover is widely opposed by the island’s population and US voters. But as journalist Casey Michel wrote for The New Republic last week, there is one key constituency that stands to benefit massively from a US takeover of the mineral-rich territory: American oligarchs, including some of Trump’s top campaign donors.
“Ranging from tech moguls to fossil fuel company heads, all of these figures and forces have invested in mining and extraction companies across the island—and all stand to profit if only they can cut out any pesky Danish or Greenlandic authorities from regulating or restraining their operations,” wrote Michel. “The figures behind the curtain are by no means obscure. KoBold Metals, a mining outfit helping lead Greenland’s ‘modern gold rush,’ has seen investments from figures like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and hedge funds like Andreessen Horowitz.”
“Another company eyeing Greenland,” Michel added, “is Critical Metals Corp, which is backed by the same hedge fund that Howard Lutnick, now Trump’s commerce secretary, spent years running.”
“The vast fortunes of the sleaze buckets who put Trump into the White House and back his attack on democracy in the United States and around the world will suddenly be thrown into question.”
Tariffs targeting such firms and the billionaires behind them, Zucman argued, would be the most effective way to penalize Trump’s reckless behavior and deter him in the future.
“If imperialism is driven by oligarchic power, then oligarchic power must be confronted,” Zucman wrote. “What are the alternatives? Doing nothing invites endless blackmail.”
US economist Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, made the case for a similarly aggressive European response to Trump’s economic warfare.
“European countries can announce that they will no longer honor US-owned patents and copyrights,” Baker wrote Monday. “Putting US patents and copyrights on the line is a guaranteed attention grabber. The vast fortunes of the sleaze buckets who put Trump into the White House and back his attack on democracy in the United States and around the world will suddenly be thrown into question.”
“The key point is that European countries, by opting to not respect US patents and copyrights, have an incredibly powerful weapon to use against Donald Trump and his rich supporters,” Baker added. “The time has come for them to go nuclear.”
'Who does it benefit?' Expert reveals who Trump is really helping with Greenland fantasy
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump is interviewed by Reuters White House correspondent Steve Holland (not pictured) during an exclusive interview in the Oval Office in the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
President Donald Trump's designs on Greenland seem almost perfectly calculated to be a boon to Russia and Vladimir Putin, New York University professor and authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat told MS NOW's Ari Melber on Monday evening.
"Ruth, what do you see as the validity of this move?" asked Melber. "On a scale of 0 to 10, we're seeing a lot of folks say zero. It has — it's not a risk/reward, it has no particular validity. What do you rate it? And then what do you think is really going on with Trump and this plan?"
"Well, it has zero validity from a point of view of anybody other than an autocrat, a megalomaniac autocrat," said Ben-Ghiat, a frequent critic of Trump. "But what's going on is, you know, Trump talked about trying to buy Greenland in 2019. And the then-Secretary of State [Mike] Pompeo went along with it, saying that, you know, global warming will liberate all these precious minerals and oil and discovered oil. So there's that."
"The other thing is that I believe that Trump is in office, in part, to solve Vladimir Putin's problems and creating a crisis for NATO and dividing NATO and having the U.S. go rogue in ways that are quite authoritarian," she continued. "Who does it benefit? It benefits Putin. And the other thing is that, unfortunately, autocrats can get into a state, I call this 'autocratic backfire,' when they believe their own hype, and they become convinced that nothing can restrain them. And Donald Trump recently gave an interview to The New York Times saying that he was restrained only by his own mind, which is not reassuring, and his own morality."
Melber agreed with this assessment, adding that Trump appears to be "believing the hype."
Ultimately, Ben Ghiat added, Trump "had almost like a narcissistic ego injury when he did not get the Peace Prize. And he talked about it in many, many posts. And Machado of Venezuela gave him hers, but that didn't satisfy him. And so he actually wrote to the Norwegian Prime Minister saying that because he didn't get, as you said in the introduction, because he didn't get the Peace Prize, he feels no obligation to care about peace. And so when autocrats are denied something, they go into a kind of rage and they take it out both on their own people and in this case, on the continent of Europe, by threatening economic warfare with the tariffs."
Trump's Greenland push highlights 'real danger' of president's second term: expert
U.S. President Donald Trump points a finger during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
Donald Trump's continued interest in Greenland highlights a bigger hazard than first thought according to a political commentator.
Christopher Bucktin, writing in The Daily Mirror, suggested the president's interest in taking Greenland into US control highlights a larger problem for world nations to stand against. Bucktin wrote, "The real danger is how familiar this all feels. Each outrageous threat lands, causes a stir, then fades."
"The bar drops. What once would have sparked fury is now dismissed as “just Trump being Trump”. That shrug is how norms and society collapse."
"This is no longer theatre. It’s a warning. Trump’s obsession with power, territory and punishment has turned him into a genuine threat to world order. The only unanswered question is how much damage he will be allowed to do before the world finally tells him his shakedown is over."
Trump has made it clear he wants Greenland for national security purposes, and has since lashed out at NATO members opposing his desire for the country to be subsumed into the US.
Tariff actions were applied to eight nations, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. The president has also posted to Truth Social earlier today (January 20) denouncing the UK for giving up an island with a US military base.
He wrote, "Shockingly, our 'brilliant' NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER."
"There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness. These are International Powers who only recognize STRENGTH, which is why the United States of America, under my leadership, is now, after only one year, respected like never before."
"The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired. Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING. Thank you for your attention to this matter. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP."
Trump says world ‘not secure’ until US has Greenland
Danish soldiers disembark in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 18, 2026, as US President Donald Trump steps up his threats to take the Arctic territory from NATO ally Denmark - Copyright Ritzau Scanpix/AFP Mads Claus Rasmussen
Pierre-Henry DESHAYES, with Johannes LEDEL in Stockholm
Donald Trump no longer needs to think “purely of peace” after being snubbed for a Nobel, the US president said in comments published Monday, adding the world will not be safe until Washington controls Greenland.
Trump has put the transatlantic alliance to the test with threats to take over Greenland “one way or the other”, with European countries closing ranks against Washington’s designs on the vast Danish territory.
German and French leaders denounced as “blackmail” weekend threats by Trump to wield new tariffs against countries which oppose his plans for the Arctic island, and said Monday that Europe was preparing trade countermeasures.
The European Union said it was holding an emergency summit on Thursday to weigh its response, and that while its priority is to “engage not escalate” it is ready to act if needed.
Greenland, for its part, said the tariffs threat does not change its desire to assert its own sovereignty.
“We will not be pressured,” Greenlandic prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post, adding that the autonomous territory “is a democratic society with the right to make its own decisions”.
But Trump had earlier doubled down, announcing in a message to Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store that the world “is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland”.
The message — published Monday and whose authenticity was confirmed to AFP by Store’s office — also saw Trump brush aside peace as a primary goal.
“I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” he said, citing his failure to win the last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, despite openly coveting it.
He said although peace would still be “predominant,” he could “now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
Store said the statement had been received in response to a message from him and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, where they had “conveyed our opposition” to Trump’s tariff threats.
Store also underlined that the Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded by the Norwegian government.
“I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known — the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee,” he said in a written statement.
– Russia, China threat? –
Trump has repeatedly said his country needs vast, mineral-rich Greenland for “national security”, despite the United States already having a base on the island and security agreements with fellow NATO ally Denmark.
“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China,” Trump said in his message to the Norwegian premier, doubling down on that sentiment in a post to Truth Social on Monday.
Denmark’s defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Monday steps had already been taken along with NATO allies to “increase military presence and training activity in the Arctic and the North Atlantic”.
Lund Poulsen added that he and Greenlandic foreign minister Vivian Motzfeldt would be meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte later on Monday.
– ‘Blackmail’ –
This weekend, Trump said that from February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland would be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the United States — a duty which could go higher.
Germany’s vice chancellor Lars Klingbeil slammed the move as blackmail, and said Monday that Europe was preparing countermeasures.
French finance minister Roland Lescure, speaking at a press conference alongside Kingbeil, agreed.
“Blackmail between allies of 250 years, blackmail between friends, is obviously unacceptable,” Lecurse said.
Klingbeil said Europe’s response could have three main strands.
First, the current tariff deal with the United States would be put on hold, he said.
Second, European tariffs on imports from the United States, currently suspended until early February, could come into force.
And thirdly the EU should consider using its toolbox of instruments against “economic blackmail”, he added.
Europe’s stock markets fell as the week’s trading began Monday, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warning that a “trade war is in no one’s interest”.
Greenland — whose tiny population of 57,000 has voiced disquiet at Trump’s threats — continued to make its preferences clear Monday.
Greenland’s dogsled federation said that the new US special envoy to the Arctic island had been disinvited to its annual race.
Jeff Landry had been invited to attend the race by a private Greenlandic tour operator, an invite the KNQK federation has previously called “totally inappropriate”.
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Dock workers hurled into nightmare as Trump's tariffs devastate major port
Dispatcher Sarah Esch faced a grim reality on a recent Monday morning: 70 available shifts for 600 waiting workers, The New York Times reported Monday night.
"Those numbers aren't great," she told the outlet.
Trump's tariff blitz has transformed the once-stable longshoreman career into an economic minefield. Shipping container traffic through Seattle and Tacoma has plummeted in double digits since August compared to 2024. There was no pre-Christmas rush.
“When China is sending fewer goods into the United States, that hurts. And when other countries aren’t buying soybeans from farmers in the Midwest, we feel that too,” said Sam Cho, a Port of Seattle commissioner. “We’re feeling it all right now.”
The consequences have proven dire for longshoremen. Over the winter, there were barely enough jobs for top-level workers, let alone mid-tier and entry-level positions.
“Oh, it all sucks,” said Antonio Cappiello, a top-level worker. “You just can’t predict from week to week or month to month what your take-home will be.”
Casual workers are now regularly told there's "no work."
Matt Mirante, 31, a longtime casual, told The Times, “It’s just an everyday disappointment right now." Over the past three months, he's worked just seven shifts. Similarly, Abegail Contreras, also a longtime casual, has gotten just four shifts in the last month.
Esch, who spent years clawing her way up from casual, now questions her industry, which also faces upheaval from possible automation.
"I just don't know what the future looks like," she said. "Is there one?"
Major Study Shows US Consumers, Businesses Pay for Vast Majority of Trump’s Tariffs
“Every dollar of tariff revenue represents a dollar extracted from American businesses and households.”
A customer shops in a Kroger grocery store on July 15, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump has long insisted, in the face of decades of research by economists, that foreign producers are the only ones who are paying for his tariffs on imported goods.
However, a major new study released Monday by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, an economic think tank based in Germany, shows that US businesses and consumers are shouldering the burden for the vast majority of Trump’s tariffs.
After examining more than 25 million shipment records of goods imported to the US last year, the institute found that foreign exporters only absorbed 4% of the $200 billion in tariff payments, with the remaining 96% being passed on to US importers and consumers.
“This finding has profound implications,” the study explains. “If foreign exporters do not reduce their prices in response to tariffs, then the entire burden of the tariff falls on US buyers. The tariff functions not as a tax on foreign producers, but as a consumption tax on Americans. Every dollar of tariff revenue represents a dollar extracted from American businesses and households.”
The study identifies several factors to explain why exporters did not slash their prices to remain competitive in the lucrative US market, including exporters shifting their sales to other markets where they will not face such high tariffs; firms not being able to shoulder the high price cut that would be needed to overcome the tariff rates set by the president; and companies not wanting to give Trump an incentive for further tariffs by rewarding US consumers with lower prices.
Julian Hinz, research director at the Kiel Institute and an author of the study, described the Trump tariffs as an “own goal” that has harmed Americans far more than it has harmed foreigners.
“The claim that foreign countries pay these tariffs is a myth,” explained Hinz. “The data show the opposite: Americans are footing the bill.”
The Kiel Institute study came out two days after Trump vowed to slap even more tariffs on European countries opposed to his efforts to take over Greenland.
In an analysis published Monday, economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) said that the latest Trump tariffs on Europe amounted to a “$75 billion tax increase” in an attempt to fulfill the president’s “demented dreams” of taking over the self-governing Danish territory.
“Well over 90% of the cost of a Trump tariff is borne by consumers or importers in the United States, not by the exporting countries,” Baker contended. “When Trump starts yelling ‘tariff, tariff, tariff,’ he is yelling ‘tax, tax, tax,’ and we’re the ones paying it. And $75 billion is not trivial. It’s 1% of the budget, more than twice the cost of the enhanced premiums for Obamacare policies that Trump says we can’t afford.”
Australian lawmakers back stricter gun, hate crime laws
Australia is debating stiffer laws on gun control and hate crime after the Bondi Beach shooting - Copyright KCNA VIA KNS/AFP STR
Australian politicians voted in favour of tougher hate crime and gun laws Tuesday, weeks after gunmen targeting Jewish people on Bondi Beach killed 15 people.
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives backed the legislation in response to the December 14 shooting at the famous Sydney beach.
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed allegedly targeted a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in the nation’s worst mass shooting for 30 years.
The attack has sparked national soul-searching about antisemitism, anger over the failure to shield Jewish Australians from harm, and promises to protect the country with stiffer legislation.
The hate crime and gun control legislation must still be approved by the upper house Senate, which was expected to vote later in the day.
“The terrorists had hate in their hearts, but they also had high-powered rifles in their hands,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament.
“We’re taking action on both — tackling antisemitism, tackling hate, and getting dangerous guns off our streets.”
Legislative reforms on guns and hate speech were voted on separately.
The hate speech legislation would toughen laws and penalties for people seeking to spread hate and radicalisation, or to promote violence.
It creates aggravated offences for offenders who are preachers, other leaders, or adults seeking to radicalise children.
The reform would also make it easier to reject or cancel visas for people suspected of terrorism or espousing hatred on the basis of race, colour, or origin.
On firearms, Australia would set up a national gun buyback scheme, tighten rules on imports of firearms and expand background checking for gun permits to allow input from intelligence services.
The legislation was debated in a special session of parliament, ahead of a national day of mourning on Thursday for the Bondi Beach victims.
Gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the Bondi Beach attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.
Police and intelligence agencies are facing difficult questions about whether they could have acted earlier.
Naveed Akram was flagged by Australia’s intelligence agency in 2019, but he slipped off the radar after it was decided that he posed no imminent threat.
