Europe condemns Trump’s ‘new colonialism’ and ‘Becks bites back’
Wednesday’s papers are dominated by European leaders responding to Donald Trump’s Greenland threat at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Guardian featured a photo of French President Emmanuel Macron wearing sunglasses while giving his speech, and Macron warned that “now is not the time for new imperialism or neo-colonialism.”
“Macron targets ‘tyrant’ Trump,” says the Independent, focusing on the French president’s condemnation of “tyrants” and call for “the rule of law rather than brutality”.
The Financial Times reported that the “rift with Europe has deepened” as Donald Trump remains firm on his intention to seize Greenland. The newspaper quotes the US leader as saying “there is no turning back” while opening the door for negotiations before his arrival in Davos on Wednesday.
“We’re going to figure something out,” is Donald Trump’s message to NATO allies before heading to the World Economic Forum, according to the Times. “You’ll find out,” he said when asked how far he was prepared to go to seize Greenland, the newspaper reported.
Donald Trump says UK military surveillance units could join a “trap line” of troops stationed in Greenland in a bid to reassure Europe can defend itself, i Paper says. He adds that Arctic deployment could include naval and air reconnaissance units.
The Metro has shifted its focus to Donald Trump’s criticism of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a “striking” social media post on Tuesday. The newspaper fills its front page with a screenshot of the US President’s Truth Social message; He accuses the Prime Minister of “giving away” the Chagos Islands, where the US has a military base, and calls it “an act of great stupidity”.
Following the post, the Daily Telegraph detailed Donald Trump’s criticism of the UK Prime Minister in his speech to journalists. Asked about his relationship with Sir Keir, Trump said the prime minister needed to “fix” Britain because “London has a lot of problems”.
Similar to Donald Trump’s attack on the prime minister, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch writes in the Daily Express. Badenoch said Sir Keir was “out of his depth” on the world stage and praised the US president as “completely right” to condemn the Chagos Island agreement.
The Daily Star tracks the fallout from Brooklyn Peltz Beckham’s bombshell revelation about his family feud with parents Sir David and Lady Victoria Beckham. The headline “Becks bites” appears in the newspaper’s most important news, which includes Sir David’s first comment saying “children make mistakes” after his eldest son’s Instagram post.
Excerpts from his opinion pieces on the Beckham family saga appear on the front page of the Daily Mail. Elsewhere, the paper quotes spy chiefs’ national security warnings to Sir Keir Starmer after the government approved plans to establish a Chinese super embassy in London.
Finally, The Sun headlines the Beckham news with the headline “Becks, ‘lies’ and videotape”, highlighting claims from Brooklyn Peltz that Beckham danced “inappropriately” with her at her mother’s wedding.
