‘This is not how you talk to your close allies,’ says Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Denmark has hit back against JD Vance’s comments that Copenhagen has not done enough for Greenland.
The US vice-president made his remark on Friday during a trip to the Pituffik space base in north-western Greenland, viewed by both Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation.
Continue reading...Vice-president criticises Denmark’s treatment of Arctic island and says it should come under US ‘security umbrella’
JD Vance told troops in Greenland that the US has to gain control of the Arctic island to stop the threat of China and Russia as he doubled down on criticising Denmark, which he said has “not done a good job”.
Under increasingly strained relations between the White House and Greenland and Denmark, the US vice-president said during a visit to Pituffik space base on Friday: “Our message to Denmark is very simple: you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have underinvested in the people of Greenland and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass.”
Continue reading...As US pivots toward territorial ambitions in the west, the Kremlin’s support signals a deeper alignment in their challenge to global norms
As JD Vance touched down in Greenland, the Trump administration received an unlikely endorsement for the US’s first potential territorial expansion since 1947: Vladimir Putin.
Speaking at an Arctic policy forum in the northern Russian city of Murmansk on Thursday, Putin presented a more comprehensive case than any US official yet for Donald Trump’s plan to annex Greenland, crafting a historical argument that sounded suspiciously convenient in terms of Russia’s own territorial designs on Ukraine.
Continue reading...Visit by US vice-president and wife met with hostility by leaders after Trump’s threats to acquire territory
The US vice-president, JD Vance, and his wife Usha are due to touch down in Greenland on Friday in a drastically scaled down trip after the original plans for the unsolicited visit prompted an international diplomatic row.
The visit to Pituffik, a remote ice-locked US military base in northwestern Greenland, will be closely watched by leaders in Nuuk and Copenhagen, who have aired their opposition to the trip amid ongoing threats by Donald Trump to acquire Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
Continue reading...US vice-president says he will join unsolicited visit to Arctic island, which Mette Frederiksen says is ‘not what Greenland needs or wants’
Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, has accused the US of putting “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland – which she has vowed to resist – before an unsolicited visit to the Arctic island by members of the Trump administration.
Later, just hours after her comments, the White House sprang a fresh surprise, as the US vice-president, JD Vance, announced he would join his wife on a trip to the territory this week.
Continue reading...Greenland’s prime minister says trip is ‘demonstration of power’ and accuses US of interfering in its political affairs
Greenland’s prime minister has accused Washington of interfering in its political affairs with the visit of an American delegation this week to the Arctic island coveted by the US president, Donald Trump.
“It should be said clearly that our integrity and democracy must be respected without foreign interference,” Múte Egede said on Monday, adding that the planned visit by the second lady, Usha Vance, along with the national security adviser, Mike Waltz, “cannot be seen as just a private visit”.
Continue reading...James Boasberg sets 4pm ET hearing as rights groups say Trump deportation of Venezuelans could be ‘blatant violation’ of court order
The justice department says that Rasha Alawieh, a kidney specialist working in Rhode Island who was deported to Lebanon despite having a US visa, had “sympathetic” photos and videos of Hezbollah leaders on her phone, according to Politico.
Alawieh’s deportation raised concerns because a judge had required 48 hours’ notice before being sent out of the country, and because she was detained despite having a valid visa and a job in the United States. Her lawyers have alleged that Customs and Border Protection ignored that order, and Massachusetts federal judge Leo Sorokin is expected to consider the matter this morning.
Continue reading...Cǎlin Georgescu to contest decision to bar him from election rerun in May after claims of Russian meddling
Romania’s far-right presidential frontrunner, Cǎlin Georgescu, has said he will appeal against a decision to bar him from standing in a rerun of the presidential election, calling it “a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.
Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly populist, surged from almost nowhere to win the first round of the country’s presidential election last year, but the result was annulled by Romania’s top court because of evidence of suspected Russian interference.
Continue reading...Diplomats gasp as Keith Kellogg claims Zelenskyy to blame for soured relations with America
“There was an audible gasp in the room at the Council on Foreign Relations as Keith Kellogg, the White House’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, characterised the US decision to cut off intelligence sharing and military aid to Kyiv as like beating a farm animal with a piece of wood.
“Very candidly, they brought it on themselves, the Ukrainians,” Kellogg said as the veteran diplomats, academics, and journalists in the room recoiled in surprise. Several held their hands in their faces. “I think the best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two-by-four across the nose,” he continued. “You got their attention, and it’s very significant, obviously, because of the support that we give.”
Continue reading...Former UK defence secretary suggests Ukraine can still win the war if it continues holding off Russian forces
Ben Wallace, the former UK defence secretary, has said Donald Trump’s decision to suspend US intelligence sharing with Kyiv is “suffocating” Ukrainian hope of holding out against Russian aggression.
Last Friday, the US president, along with the vice-president, JD Vance, berated Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office in full view of the media, telling the Ukrainian president that he was “gambling with world war three” and to come back to the White House “when he is ready for peace”.
Continue reading...Interventions follow US vice president’s comments about ‘20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 40 years’. This live blog is closed
In response to a question about intelligence cooperation with the US, Sir David Manning, a former ambassador to Washington, said he thought this would become “more difficult” because there was a problem of trust. He explained:
If you have some of Trump’s appointees in these key jobs who have very strange track records, and have said very strange things about Nato allies, the Nato alliance and so on, and you have people in the administration who seem to be, let’s say, looking for ways of appeasing Russia, then you have a problem on the intelligence front, because these are not the values that we have.
Continue reading...Federal agencies have until 13 March to formulate staff reduction plans as allies and critics react to Trump’s marathon Congress speech
The Trump administration has listed over 300 buildings for sale in a further move to gut the federal government. It describes the properties as “not core to government operations”.
In a posting to US general services administration website, the administration says the 320 properties across multiple states are “designated for disposal”.
We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal. Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces. Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.
I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the US.
We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it. But we need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it — one way or the other, we’re going to get it.
Continue reading...PM says any deal must be ‘lasting and secure’ following fiery Trump-Zelenskyy meeting last week and UK weekend summit. This live blog is closed
Lisa O’Carroll is the Guardian’s acting Ireland correspondent.
Michelle O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s first minister, has described a decision to build thousands of lightweight missiles for Ukraine in a Belfast factory as “incredulous”.
I find it really incredulous that at a time when public services are being cut left, right and centre.
At a time when we have endured 14 years of austerity ... I think at a time like that, rather than buying weapons of war, I would rather see the money invested in public services.
Continue reading...Chancellor says increased military spending should support ‘British jobs and British industries’
Rachel Reeves has said UK companies and jobs will be prioritised under the government’s plans for a significant increase in defence spending, with an aim to support “left behind” industrial towns and the economy at large.
Announced by Keir Starmer last week amid growing fears over Donald Trump’s commitment to European security, the government will increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – worth an additional £6bn a year.
Continue reading...Vice-president says best way to prevent another Russian invasion is to ‘give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine’
US vice-president JD Vance said that the best way to protect Ukraine from another Russian invasion is to guarantee the US has a financial interest in Ukraine’s future.
“If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine,” Vance said in the interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity which aired Monday night.
Continue reading...Harris running mate discussed campaign missteps after saying he’ll run for third term as Minnesota governor
Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s running mate in the November presidential election won by Donald Trump, says he deplores how much time he spent addressing the opposing campaign’s decision to spread false, racist rumors of pets being abducted and eaten in Springfield, Ohio.
“They sucked me in on” that, Walz said in a recent episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast. Echoing similar remarks that he made on a recent episode of the Fast Politics With Molly Jong-Fast podcast, he added: “I was just horrified and angry when they were demonizing folks in Springfield, Ohio. [And] there I was talking for almost a week about immigration, right where they wanted us to be.”
Continue reading...Europe can’t wait to react to Trump’s mood swings but must show we have the will and the wallet to take back control
It’s exhausting and humiliating to have no control – watching every meeting in the Oval Office for a glimmer of Trump’s approval or displeasure, our security resting on a perceived slight or a mood.
The last week of meetings between Trump, Macron, Starmer and finally Zelenskyy always felt like crawling across a minefield. Some might agonise about whether Zelenskyy could have played things differently. It’s the wrong question. The point is that we can’t carry on being so dependent on every meeting at the White House. Until we start taking charge of our future, we will always be one heart palpitation away from dreading doomsday.
Continue reading...Vance snaked his way in first to the row between Trump and Zelenskyy, his second intrusion this month after Munich
JD Vance was supposed to be the inconsequential vice-president.
But his starring role in Friday’s blowup between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – where he played a cross between Trump’s bulldog and tech bro Iago – may mark the moment that the postwar alliance between Europe and America finally collapsed.
Continue reading...Attorney general had indicated justice department would release files related to Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019
The US justice department has released additional files related to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The justice department gave a statement on Thursday evening, saying the release largely contained documents that had been “previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the US government”.
Continue reading...President claims presence of US workers in Ukraine would deter Russian aggression after talks with Keir Starmer
Donald Trump has insisted that Vladimir Putin would “keep his word” on a peace deal for Ukraine, arguing that US workers extracting critical minerals in the country would act as a security backstop to deter Russia from invading again.
During highly anticipated talks at the White House with the prime minister, Keir Starmer, the US president said that Putin could be trusted not to breach any agreement, which could aim to return as much of the land as possible to Ukraine that was seized by Russia during the brutal three-year conflict.
Continue reading...