Washington Examiner economics columnist Tiana Lowe Doescher said President Donald Trump got “everything” he wanted in Greenland, but she hopes it was a reminder to the White House that the president’s action will affect interest rates.
“Trump got everything he wanted [from a diplomatic perspective],” Doescher said on Fox Business’s Mornings With Maria Bartiromo on Friday. “From a financial perspective, I hope that this was a little bit of a reminder to the White House that what the president does matters more to interest rates than the [Federal Reserve] controlling the federal funds rate.”
At the end of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump announced he had worked out a deal with the president of NATO about Greenland’s future.
Trump said negotiations were still occurring about the deal when pressed for details Thursday on Air Force One on his way back to Washington, D.C., according to ABC News.
Doescher said from her understanding, the president’s “goal” wasn’t to buy Greenland.
“My understanding is that the goal was never to spend the equivalent of an entire annual defense budget to buy Greenland,” she said.
“You know Greenland had Denmark’s entire rigid environmental protections, which meant no mining for any of the rare earths minerals, there were limitations to how much Golden Dome could be built. Trump got everything he wanted,” Doescher added.
She praised Trump for securing a deal in Europe.
“With Trump and Greenland, [it’s] wonderful that we secured this deal,” Doescher said. “The [European Union] trade deal, which Trump negotiated — zero percent tariffs on most U.S. imports into Europe, which is a great deal.”
Doescher said the government can cut interest rates, but the tenure will “still increase” in that time if there isn’t “fiscal discipline.”
“[Trump] did play a little bit with fire,” she said. “Because remember, over $28 trillion outstanding treasury debt, about 2 trillion is owned by the Europeans.”
