Treasury Secretary's comment about Denmark is turning heads — and not in a good way
Donald Trump never backs away from taking brutal jabs at his own allies if it means he would get his way, and it seems like his administration is following the same philosophy. For weeks, Trump has insinuated that Denmark doesn’t have what it takes to properly govern the island of Greenland and protect it from Russian and Chinese threats. Recently, Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, followed suit, calling the NATO country 'irrelevant', which would certainly not be well received.
His comments came at the World Economic Forum in Davos after AkademikerPension, the Danish pension operator, said that it would unwind its investment in US government bonds amounting to $100 million. When Bessent was asked about the matter, he said that Danish investment in the United States was irrelevant to begin with, and that it was something that neither he nor the country’s leadership was too worried about at the time, as reported by CNN.
“Denmark’s investment in US Treasury bonds – like Denmark itself – is irrelevant,” he said to reporters at Davos after he was asked if there was any concern over other European agencies pulling investments from the United States over their hyper-aggressive rhetoric in terms of taking over Greenland. “It is less than $100 million. They’ve been selling Treasuries. They have for years. I’m not concerned at all,” Bessent added. This statement may not sit well with the Danes, who are already irked by Trump's actions, so much so that they founded a petition to buy the state of California and rename it as well, which has garnered 280,000 signatures so far, even though it is a spoof.
While $100 million constitutes only a small part of the $30.8 trillion US Treasury market, the nation of Denmark holds $10 billion worth of US bonds. If all the money were taken away, Bessent might still possibly carry himself with the air of nonchalance that he portrayed in Davos. However, he also noted that Danish investments had been on a downward trajectory in recent years in the United States. Denmark held just under $18 billion of US Treasuries as recently as 2021.
While the pension company’s decision to pull funds might not have anything to do with Donald Trump’s recent statements, other European institutions might not feel the same way. Trump has recently threatened tariffs on the countries that have deployed military forces to Greenland, and military action by the U.S. is still very much on the table. What the EU could do is unload US debt, which would lead to severe problems for Americans.
Deutsche Bank reported that it could raise borrowing costs that would plunge middle and low-income households in America into a deeper financial hole as prices of everyday items are seemingly on the rise. Bessent, however, has no intention of believing that claim. “This notion that Europeans would be selling US assets came from a single analyst at Deutsche Bank. Of course, the fake news media, led by the Financial Times, amplified it,” he said. “And the CEO of Deutsche Bank called to say that Deutsche Bank does not stand by that analyst’s report.”
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