Europe should be happy President Donald Trump was elected — despite his threats to take Greenland — because without him, it would never have stepped up for its own defense, according to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. 

‘I’m not popular with you now because I’m defending Donald Trump, but I really believe you can be happy that he is there because he has forced us in Europe to step up, to face the consequences that we have to take care of more of our own defense,’ Rutte said Wednesday in remarks at Davos, Switzerland.

‘No way, without Donald Trump, this would never have happened. They’re all on 2% now,’ he went on during a panel at the World Economic Forum. 

In 2014, NATO allies agreed to spend 2% of GDP on defense, but many fell short until recent years. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Trump’s threats not to defend NATO countries, most allies are meeting or exceeding the benchmark. 

They’ve now agreed to spend 5% GDP on defense and national security infrastructure.

‘I’m absolutely convinced without Donald Trump you would not have taken those decisions, and they are crucial, particularly for the European and the Canadian side of NATO to really grow up in the post-Cold War world.’

U.S. lawmakers previously criticized Rutte for his own country’s underspending on defense. Rutte was prime minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024. 

Rutte argued the U.S. is still committed to Europe’s defense, and the nuclear umbrella is the ultimate defense guarantee.

‘The Americans still have over 80,000 soldiers in Europe … including in Poland and Germany, and so they are still heavily invested in European defense. And yes, they have to pivot more towards Asia. So it is only logical for them to expect us, Europe, to step up over time,’ he said.

He also added Greenland is not the ‘main issue’ and Europe should not let it distract from Ukraine’s defense. 

‘The risk here is that we focus, of course, on Greenland, because we have to make sure that issue gets solved in an amicable way,’ he said. ‘But the main issue is not Greenland. Now, the main issue is Ukraine. I’m also a little bit worried that we might drop the ball focusing so much on these other issues.’

‘This focus on Ukraine should be our top priority,’ he said. ‘Ukraine has to come first because it is crucial to our European and American security.’

Rutte repeatedly has praised Trump, in June calling him ‘daddy’ of the NATO alliance. 

‘Daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get them to stop,’ he said in reference to fighting between Israel and Iran.

Other European leaders have expressed more concern about Trump’s Greenland ambitions. On Wednesday Trump, for the first time, ruled out taking Greenland by force. 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said a U.S. takeover of Greenland would mean the ‘end of NATO,’ the nearly 80-year-old defense alliance. 

Trump spoke at the Davos, Switzerland, conference Wednesday after threatening Europe with tariffs over the Greenland dispute.

This week the president told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in a text message he ‘no longer thinks purely of peace’ in his desire to own Greenland.

Trump wrote: ‘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.’

‘I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States,’ Trump wrote. ‘The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.’

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has time and again pushed to rein in President Donald Trump’s war authorities, but he has rarely gone to the same lengths for his own party’s presidents.

Kaine’s argument has stayed fairly consistent over the years that Congress should reassert its constitutional authority and decision-making in the run-up to a military conflict. And he has either led or joined several pushes over Trump’s non-consecutive terms in office to corral his war powers.

But he never pulled the same kind of move under former Presidents Barack Obama or Joe Biden, causing Republicans to question whether his desires are politically motivated or genuine.

There was not a single war powers resolution filed in the Senate during Obama’s time in office, but Kaine did push back on his expansive use of drones in the Middle East.

‘I have been as consistent as I can be, because I really got in the way of President Obama when he wanted to use military action in Syria without congressional authorization,’ Kaine said. ‘And I told him, you know, ‘You’re like my friend. But this is, you know, a basic principle for me.’’

His latest push to curb future military action in Venezuela without congressional approval nearly succeeded in the Senate but ultimately was killed through a rare procedural move coupled with an intense pressure campaign from Trump, his administration and Senate Republican leaders.

Before the first vote, which saw five Republicans peel from their colleagues to advance the resolution, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., contended that Kaine’s latest push ‘does not reassert Congress’ powers.’

‘There are Democrats in this chamber who are using the arrest of Nicolás Maduro not to advance American interests, but to attack President Trump,’ Barrasso said.

And building off Barrasso’s sentiment was a broader argument from several Republicans, and top officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who charged that Kaine’s push was moot given that there were no boots on the ground in Venezuela and that the administration has no future plans for military action.

Republicans who may have been on the verge of supporting Kaine’s push argued that without a plan to beat an almost guaranteed veto from Trump, it was nothing more than a messaging tactic.

‘It’s a messaging exercise, and I think that you’d have more credibility if, at least, you had some elements, like boots on the ground to justify it,’ Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital.

‘I mean, if somebody’s serious about getting something done, if you sit down with me and say, ‘I can get the 67 votes, so I have a veto-proof majority, and this is how I’m going to do it,’ that impresses me,’ he continued.

Dating back to Trump’s first term in office, Kaine has either introduced or supported seven war powers resolutions. Each of those pushes — four of which he led — were all directed toward reining in Trump’s military authority and reasserting Congress’ oversight role.

However, he rejected two of three Republican-led war powers pushes during Biden’s presidency, and notably, voted for the same procedural move used to kill his own Venezuela resolution to nix another from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2024.

Cruz’s war powers resolution sought to curb Biden’s war authority as he pushed for the creation of a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza to deliver aid to the country.

Kaine argued there was a stark difference between humanitarian missions and military action in explaining his vote against Cruz’s resolution.

‘That was because building a humanitarian pier is not hostilities, right? If that’s hostilities, the U.S. going to do tsunami relief is hostilities,’ Kaine said.

‘But you know what we’re doing in Venezuela is hostilities,’ he continued. ‘It’s not building a pier for humanitarian aid. So, that was why I said the definition of hostility should not apply to humanitarian acts, OK? And I firmly believe that, and I’d vote for that under presidents of either party.’

Still, Republicans countered that Kaine’s own war powers resolution was similarly void because there were no active or planned hostilities in the region.

‘It’s pretty clear, war powers only applies if you’ve got boots on the ground,’ Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital. ‘We don’t have boots on the ground in those locations that he’s talking about. And so I’m not sure what the reasoning is, but it appears to me to be unnecessary, and it certainly does not deserve to be privileged.’

Kaine has no intention of relenting on his war powers pursuit while Trump is in office and noted last week that he would file resolution after resolution to take a hammer to the cracks forming in the GOP’s mostly unified resistance against questioning the president’s war authorities.

That decision has not surprised many Republicans.

‘I mean, he’s a Democrat, so he’s going to try and do messaging,’ Tillis said. ‘I understand that — we do the same stuff.’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent lashed out at California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, calling him ‘economically illiterate’ and accusing him of prioritizing elite global gatherings over the state’s mounting fiscal, housing, and homelessness crises.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bessent used the high-profile meeting to deliver a blistering critique of Newsom’s economic record and leadership.

‘I was told he was asked to give a speech on his signature policies, but he’s not speaking because what have his economic policies brought? Outward migration from California, a gigantic budget deficit, the largest homeless population in America, and the poor folks in the Palisades who had their homes burned down,’ the Treasury secretary said.

‘He is here hobnobbing with the global elite while his California citizens are still homeless. Shame on him. He’s too smug, too self-absorbed, and too economically illiterate to know anything.’

Bessent also responded to Newsom’s characterization of him as a ‘smug man,’ saying the governor ‘strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken,’ referring to the fictional serial killer from ‘American Psycho’ and the flamboyant doll character from ‘Barbie.’

‘[He] may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris. He’s here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros, and Davos is the perfect place for a man who, when everyone else was on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church, he was having $1,000 a night meals at the French Laundry,’ he added. ‘And I’m sure the California people won’t forget that.’

The Cabinet official said the administration would also move to address what he called ‘waste, fraud and abuse’ in the state.

Newsom, who is in Switzerland attending the Davos summit, struck back at the White House on Tuesday by directing his criticism at President Donald Trump and his remarks about acquiring Greenland.

‘America’s allies and business leaders need to understand this: There’s no diplomacy with Donald Trump. Get off your knees and grow a spine,’ he wrote on X.

He told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting later that Trump is a ‘T. rex.’ ‘You mate with him or he devours you. One or the other,’ Newsom said.

‘It’s time to stand tall and firm. Have a backbone. I can’t take this complicity — people rolling over,’ he added. ‘From an American perspective, it’s embarrassing.’

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said he and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday to discuss a potential peace deal that would end the country’s nearly four-year war with Ukraine.

″[There’s been] lots of progress in the last six to eight weeks,’ Witkoff told CNBC, referring to a possible peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

When asked about whether he believed Putin would come to a deal to end the war, Witkoff told CNBC that he is optimistic and has a ‘sense that everybody wants a peace there, that it’s time.’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy will reportedly meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday in Davos, according to Axios.

‘I think Russia wants to make a deal, I think Ukraine wants to make a deal. I think I can say we are relatively close,’ Trump told the crowd at Davos.

This will not be Witkoff and Kushner’s first meeting with Putin in Moscow. The two held a five-hour meeting with Putin in December, though they were not able to yield any major breakthroughs.

Representatives of the U.S. and Russia held talks in Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders are gathered for the World Economic Forum, according to Reuters, which added that Washington’s envoys also met with Ukrainian and European leaders. Envoys for Putin and Trump said the talks were ‘very positive’ and ‘constructive.’

‘Dialogue is constructive and more and more people understand the fairness of Russian position,’ Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said after the talks in Davos, Reuters reported.

Last month, Witkoff and Kushner spoke with Zelenskyy, who expressed optimism after the talks.

‘Today we had a very good conversation with President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and [Jared Kushner]. I thank them for the constructive approach, the intensive work, and the kind words and Christmas greetings to the Ukrainian people,’ Zelenskyy wrote on X. ‘We are truly working 24/7 to bring closer the end of this brutal Russian war against Ukraine and to ensure that all documents and steps are realistic, effective, and reliable.’

Feb. 24 will mark four years since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sparked a war that has drawn international attention. Trump has blamed both Putin and Zelenskyy for prolonging the war, saying at various times that one of the two leaders was seemingly not ready to reach a deal.

While the issue of territory has long been a major sticking point, with Zelenskyy repeatedly opposing any land concessions, Witkoff told CNBC that ‘land deals’ remain on the table.

The Trump administration has worked to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine for over a year. Trump has met with both Zelenskyy and Putin, though those meetings did not appear to make major shifts to the peace process.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he would back a push to impeach judges blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda on Wednesday.

While it’s never something Johnson explicitly ruled out, his support comes after House GOP leaders signaled opposition to such a move last year. At the time, leaders argued impeachment was not a practical punishment for what Republicans widely saw as activist judges trying to influence the administration’s policy.

But he told reporters at his weekly press conference that while he believed impeachment is still an ‘extreme measure,’ that ‘extreme times call for extreme measures.’

‘I think some of these judges have gotten so far outside the bounds of where they’re supposed to operate. It would not be, in my view, a bad thing for Congress to lay down the law,’ Johnson said.

It comes as some Republicans in the Senate and House push for impeachments against U.S. district judges James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called them both ‘rogue judges’ earlier this month and said they ‘meet the constitutional standard for impeachment’ during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing.

‘I’m for it,’ Johnson said when asked about the push. ‘Boasberg is one who’s been mentioned, and these are some egregious abuses.’

Boasberg has been targeted by Republicans after rulings on several key immigration cases involving Trump’s policies, including flying migrants to El Salvador and other countries instead of detaining them in the U.S.

He more recently raised GOP ire when it was revealed that Boasberg signed off on warrants that allowed for the seizure of some Republican lawmakers’ phone records in former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost probe.

Cruz called for Boardman’s impeachment over her sentencing decision for a man found guilty of charges related to trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The man’s sentence of 97 months and a lifetime of supervised release fell far short of sentencing guidelines, according to Cruz.

While Johnson never explicitly ruled out impeachment, he told reporters last year that he believed it was an impractical course of action. 

At the time, House Republicans passed a bill by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., aimed at limiting judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions — the path favored by a majority of House GOP lawmakers.

‘Look, impeachments are never off the table if it’s merited. But in our system — we’ve had 15 federal judges impeached in the entire history of the country — I mean, there may be some that I feel merit that, but you’ve got to get the votes for it. And it’s a very high burden,’ Johnson said in May 2025.

‘Frankly, the bar is high crimes and misdemeanors. I mean, the last federal judge impeached, I think was caught…taking cash in an envelope. You know, it’s got to be a pretty brazen offense or a real open crime that everybody could agree to.’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to publicly testify on the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela in the Senate next week.

Returning to his old stomping grounds in the Senate has become fairly routine for Rubio over the last few months, particularly as lawmakers have demanded more transparency over the administration’s actions in Venezuela and the Caribbean.

And once again, Rubio will appear on the Hill when the Senate returns from recess next week, sources confirmed to Fox News Digital. He is scheduled to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 28 at 10 a.m.

The hearing before the panel comes after Rubio acted as a key figure to convince a pair of holdouts — Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo. — to flip their votes and kill an attempt by Senate Democrats to rein in President Donald Trump’s war authorities last week.

Their primary concerns were that the administration would put boots on the ground in the region, and that Congress should have a say if that were the case.

Through assurances, guarantees and an agreement to publicly testify on the matter, Rubio appeared to win them over.

Young said at the time that he had to ‘accept that this was a communications exercise,’ but noted that it was a moment used to ‘shine a bright light on Congress’ shortcomings as it relates to war powers in recent history.’

Rubio also wrote to Senate Foreign Relations Chair James Risch, R-Idaho, ahead of the vote last week to spell out that the administration would clue in Congress should any future military action take place in the region.

He then re-upped that same message to Young, where he said that should Trump ‘determine that he intends to introduce U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities in major military operations in Venezuela, he would seek congressional authorization in advance (circumstances permitting).’

Still, despite these guarantees to Republicans, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who sits on the committee, plans to continue his quest to corral Trump’s war authorities.

Kaine said before lawmakers left Washington that he planned to ‘file every one I can to challenge emergencies, to challenge unlawful wars, to seek human rights reports, arms transfers if they’re wrong.’

As President Donald Trump escalates his efforts to acquire Greenland from Denmark, the latest national polls reveal that most Americans oppose taking over the massive and crucially strategic island that lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

Trump is holding crucial talks Wednesday on Greenland with NATO allies during a quick stop in Davos, Switzerland.

On the eve of his trip, the president said there is ‘no going back’ on his efforts to take over Greenland. Asked at a White House news conference how far he’d go to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory, Trump said: ‘You’ll find out.’ The president has also threatened tariffs against NATO members.

In his speech at Davos, the president said: ‘I’m seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.’ But Trump added, ‘I don’t want to use force.’

But Trump’s moves are facing opposition from Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill, and the most recent surveys suggest there’s little appetite among Americans to take over the island.

Eighty-six percent of voters nationwide questioned in a Quinnipiac University poll released last week said they would oppose military action to take over Greenland.

That includes 95% of Democrats, 94% of Independents and even more than two-thirds (68%) of Republicans surveyed by Quinnipiac Jan. 8-12.

Three-quarters of Americans questioned in a CNN poll conducted at the same time said they opposed a U.S. takeover of Greenland. Ninety-four percent of Democrats and eight in 10 Independents said they would oppose such a move, with Republicans split 50%-50%.

Separately, only 14% surveyed in a CBS News poll conducted Jan. 14–16 said they would approve the use of military force to take the island.

Meanwhile, by a 55%-37% margin, voters questioned in the Quinnipiac survey said they opposed any U.S. effort to try and buy Greenland.

But there’s a stark political divide on this question, with the vast majority of Democrats and nearly six in 10 Independents opposed to buying Greenland, and more than two-thirds of Republicans supporting such efforts.

Trump has said in social media posts that ‘The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of national security,’ and that ‘anything less’ than U.S. control of the island is ‘unacceptable.’

But the president’s push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland is causing massive tensions with Denmark and other NATO nations.

President Donald Trump blasted European nations for not being ‘recognizable’ at the World Economic Forum in Davos Wednesday. 

‘I don’t want to insult anybody and say I don’t recognize it,’ Trump said during his special address Wednesday. ‘And that’s not in a positive way. That’s in a very negative way. And I love Europe and I want to see Europe do good, but it’s not heading in the right direction.’

‘In recent decades, it became conventional wisdom in Washington and European capitals that the only way to grow a modern Western economy was through ever-increasing government spending, unchecked mass migration, and endless foreign imports,’ Trump said. 

Trump then said that issues like energy, trade, immigration and economic growth must be ‘central concerns to anyone who wants to see a strong and united West.’ 

Trump’s comments come as tensions between the U.S. and European allies have escalated, after Trump has renewed his ambitions to acquire Greenland and has threatened to impose tariffs on European allies who don’t back those efforts.

In response to a group of NATO members dispatching troops to Greenland after Trump resurrected his plans to take over the island, the president announced Saturday that those countries would be subjected to a 10% tariff on all goods starting Feb. 1. 

Those tariffs would increase to 25% in June, until a deal is reached for Trump to secure Greenland, according to Trump. 

Trump’s comments in Davos echo previous statements Vice President JD Vance made at the Munich Security Conference in February 2025. There, Vance cautioned that Russia and China don’t pose as great a threat to European nations as the ‘threat from within,’ citing censorship and illegal immigration. 

Additionally, Vance said that European voters didn’t endorse opening the ‘floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.’

European leaders bucked at Vance’s comments, and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said shortly after Vance delivered the statement that he perceived the statements as a comparison to ‘conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes.’

Trump previously attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, twice during his first term, according to the State Department’s records. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Lisa Cook’s ascension to the Federal Reserve was historic from the start. 

Appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022, she became the first Black woman to serve as a Fed board governor, the seven-member panel that sets national interest rates and oversees the banking system.

Now, she stands at the center of another historic moment, as President Donald Trump attempts to fire her — a move the Federal Reserve has never faced in its 112-year history.

Cook’s legal fight traces back to late August, when Trump said he was firing her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. 

He alleged she misrepresented information tied to a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the central bank. Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.

She sued Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block her removal. On Sept. 9, a district court judge barred Trump from firing her while the case proceeds, a decision later upheld by a federal appeals court.

Before joining the Fed board, the Oxford alumna and UC Berkeley–trained economist built a career in academia, including faculty roles at Harvard University and Michigan State University.

A graduate of Spelman College, Cook has been described by American economist Barry Eichengreen as ‘part economist and historian,’ with command of several languages, including French, Russian, Spanish and Wolof — a widely spoken language in Senegal.

Cook has also held senior roles in government, serving as a senior economist on then-President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 to 2012. 

Before that, she served as a senior adviser on finance and development in the Treasury Department’s Office of International Affairs. 

She joined the Fed board in May 2022 and was reappointed in September 2023 for a term that runs through January 2038, a tenure now under scrutiny as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments Wednesday. 

The court is expected to issue a ruling by this summer.