Trump’s Greenland Ambitions and the Power of Bond Markets

Explore how bond markets and economic tariffs influenced Trump’s Greenland strategy. This analysis details the shift from military threats to financial frameworks, highlighting historical market pressures on presidents.

While The Donald was blowing smoke about sending out in soldiers, he much more seriously displayed his preferred tool of coercion– huge tariffs– on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland.

Historical Lessons in Market Coercion

Former President Expense Clinton notoriously summed up the power of the bond markets years back, back in the early 1990s, when he was told by one of his financial advisors that he needed to raise taxes for deficit decrease or bonds would certainly collapse and rate of interest rise.

His precise words to Robert Rubin, as reported by reporter Bob Woodward (which I later on validated with Rubin, then the National Economic Council chief) went like this: “You imply to tell me that the success of my program and my re-election rests on the Federal Book and a number of f– king bond traders?”

That is, up until Trump on Wednesday revealed below at Davos that he had a new deal, his Greenland “structure,” or off ramp– where he shows up to have obtained absolutely nothing truly new because Denmark has actually been largely certified regarding allowing the US military set up shop on its lawn.

The Bond Market’s Role in Greenland Diplomacy

I recognize what you’re thinking: I’ve leapt the shark on this one, so caught up in my fixation on finance that I can not see the wider geopolitical pressures that made it difficult for our president to send in the Navy SEALs to take all that tactically positioned expanse.

Rather, it was the bond market that resolved the Greenland situation, IMHO and in the point of view of my Wall Street resources, encouraging the head of state to opt for a “structure” that simply places a few more United States armed forces bases on the ice-covered island.

We didn’t have fairly the very same situation when Trump announced his Greenland tariff system, however it was beginning to head in that instructions. The 10-year note surged to above 4.3% and supplies sold off, and hard.