Trump heads for Davos: US President flies in as he warns European leaders there is ‘no going back’ over Greenland

Donald Trump has warned European leaders there is ‘no going back’ from his threats to seize control of Greenland ahead of a meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Air Force One, the plane carrying President Donald Trump to his showdown with European leaders in Davos, made a U-turn and returned to base this morning after experiencing an electrical malfunction.

What was already expected to be a dramatic day in Switzerland got off to a chaotic start when the US delegation was forced to change planes and restart their journey hours behind schedule.

The President is currently on his way to Europe on another plane.

The stern-faced President was seen boarding the original Air Force One late Tuesday night, heading to the Swiss town for the annual World Economic Forum.

He promised an ‘interesting’ trip and told reporters he believed it would be ‘very successful’ despite weeks of rows with NATO allies over demands to seize Greenland.

His visit to the Alpine resort comes after Mr Trump was called a ‘tyrant’ for his attempts to wrest the strategic Arctic island from Denmark; There have been many warnings that such moves risk dragging US ties with the European Union into a ‘downward spiral’.

However, an hour into the journey across the Atlantic on the Boeing 747, the crew chose to return to Joint Base Andrews after what was called a ‘minor electrical problem’.

White House officials later said the decision to return to Maryland was made “out of an abundance of caution,” downplaying the fear in the air and emphasizing that the power problem was minor.

Asked during a lengthy briefing at the White House on Tuesday how far he was willing to go to take over the country, the Republican leader said: ‘You’ll find out.’

During the briefing, Mr Trump firmly told Sir Keir Starmer to ‘fix’ Britain, claiming London had ‘a lot of problems’.

He also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron, saying: ‘They need to fix their country; ‘When you look at London there are a lot of problems, when you look at Paris there are a lot of problems.’

Mr Trump said both Britain and France faced problems on immigration and energy and called on Britain to stop its use of windmills and use gas and oil from the North Sea instead.

After his numerous threats to seize Greenland and clashes with his allies, he flies halfway around the world to settle scores with European leaders

He promised an ‘interesting’ trip, telling reporters he believed it would be a ‘very successful trip’ and saying ‘the country has never done anything better’

Asked during a lengthy briefing at the White House on Tuesday how far he was willing to go to take over the country, the Republican leader said: ‘You’ll find out.’

He reiterated this point on Truth Social after boarding Air Force One to begin his journey across the Atlantic.

‘America will be well represented by me in Davos. MAY GOD PROTECT YOU ALL! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP,” the President wrote.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Trump lashed out at the British Prime Minister after the US leader vowed to go ahead with the controversial £30bn Chagos Islands gift, despite calling it ‘an act of great stupidity’.

Starmer last night ordered Labor MPs to introduce legislation on the deal and said the US continued to support the plan, which he said showed Mr Trump’s “total weakness”.

Mr Trump, who approved the deal last year, stunned ministers yesterday by slamming Labor’s decision to hand over the islands to China’s ally Mauritius.

In an angry post on the Truth Social platform, he wrote: ‘Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is now planning to hand over Diego Garcia Island, a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and is doing so WITHOUT ANY REASON.

‘There is no doubt that China and Russia noticed this act of complete weakness.’

He highlighted the decision as a reason to pursue Greenland, writing: ‘It is an act of HUGE Idiocy for the UK to give away hugely important territory and is one in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland should be acquired.’

And last night he reiterated his opposition to the deal. Mr Trump told reporters: ‘They [the UK] Originally they were going to do this, they were talking about doing some kind of ownership concept. But now they’re actually considering renting and selling.

‘I am against this. It looks nothing like Greenland, but it is a very important region of the globe.

‘I think they should keep it. I don’t know why they don’t; Do they need money?’

Under the terms of the deal, England will lease back Diego Garcia (pictured) for 99 years at a cost of up to £30bn.

Pat McFadden, a close ally of the Prime Minister, said he did not believe the debate was about Chagos; More precisely, it was about Greenland, he said

US President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference at the White House as he enters the first year of his second term in Washington, DC, on January 20.

Downing Street yesterday played down the row, pointing to comments by Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, who said he had vented his ‘disappointment’ at Mr Trump’s opposition to a bid to take over Greenland.

Mr McFadden, a close ally of the Prime Minister, said: ‘I think what we saw last night was a series of posts criticizing some world leaders. This could tell us that the President is frustrated right now.

‘I don’t believe this is really about Chagos, I think it’s about Greenland and the best way to resolve this is to have a dialogue with the Danish government and that’s what we’ve said all along.’

Under the terms of the deal, England will lease back Diego Garcia for 99 years at a cost of up to £30 billion. But critics of the deal lined up to urge the Prime Minister to reconsider.

Kemi Badenoch said President Trump was “right on the issue.” The Conservative leader told the BBC: ‘There is no reason why we should hand over British territory on which there is a strategic military base and pay £35 billion in compensation to apologize to Mauritius. This is crazy.

‘The only ones who benefit from this are Russia and China. ‘This is a stupid idea and Keir Starmer is completely wrong about it.’

Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, urged ministers to heed Mr Trump’s advice and abandon legislation that would cement the deal. He said the US President was offering Labor a ‘last chance’ to avoid ‘an act of self-harm’.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said enemy states such as Russia, China and Iran were ‘laughing at us’.

The US administration approved the agreement last year and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it ‘secured the long-term, stable and effective operation of the joint US-UK military facility in Diego Garcia, which is critical to regional and global security’.

But critics believe the risks were never properly explained to Mr. Trump.

The Daily Mail this month revealed that exiled Chagos Islanders had appealed to Mr Trump as a last resort to intervene, even offering to name an island after him if he blocked the plan.

In a letter to the US President, the Islanders’ First Minister Misley Mandarin warned that the “very bad deal” would put the joint military base “at risk”.

He warned that the deal, brokered by Sir Keir’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell, could give China ‘leverage’ over the base, which is seen as a military asset.

He said Mauritius would ‘retain sovereignty over every square inch of the US base’.

Reform UK sources have suggested that Nigel Farage’s lobbying activities may also have contributed to the President’s change of heart.

Mr Farage said: ‘Americans have woken up to the fact that they have been lied to. They were told that Britain had no choice but to surrender the Chagos Islands. This was totally untrue and now they are angry with us.’

The then British foreign secretary, David Lammy, said last year that Mr Trump had the right to veto the deal, adding: ‘If President Trump doesn’t like the deal, it won’t go forward. ‘The reason for this is that we have common military and intelligence interests with the USA.’

Mr Farage said the US President had now ‘vetoed the surrender’ of the islands.

But Downing Street said the deal would go ahead and instructed Labor MPs to vote to reject the changes to the law introduced by the Lords.

Government sources said they expected the legislation to be passed within a few weeks.