London Irvine Report: Special Update 17/01/2026 Greenland Heats Up. Canada The Next Bric?

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If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.

Voltaire

Bizarrely, President Trump is now threatening friend and foe alike over icy Greenland.

Will Greenland bring on the next great depression in international trade?

Trump floats new tariffs in push to acquire Greenland

Published Fri, Jan 16 2026 10:52 AM EST Updated Fri, Jan 16 2026 2:32 PM EST

President Donald Trump said Friday he may impose tariffs on countries “if they don’t go along with Greenland.”

“We need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” Trump said at the White House during a health-care-related event.

The comments show Trump, whose push to acquire Greenland for the U.S. has grown increasingly aggressive in recent months, turning to one of his favorite tools for leveraging power over foreign nations.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for additional information on Trump’s remarks.

The Trump administration has previously said it is weighing multiple options, including utilizing the U.S. military, in order to take over the Danish territory.

Trump asserts it is essential that America own Greenland — even though the U.S. already maintains a military base there — because of national security concerns posed by China and Russia.

The White House has also said the U.S. is considering making an offer to buy the Arctic island. But Greenland and Denmark have repeatedly insisted that the territory is not for sale and has no wish to be absorbed into America.

Trump’s suggestion that he may wield tariffs to get his way on Greenland came after he described a similar strategy to force foreign countries to raise their drug prices.

Trump has pushed to lower the cost of U.S. drugs by mandating that domestic prices match lower ones paid overseas.

At the White House event Friday, Trump said he threatened the leaders of multiple countries to either raise drug prices as part of a “most favored nations” deal, or else face heavy tariffs on all their imports to the U.S.

“I may do that for Greenland too. I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said.

A delegation from Greenland and Denmark, after meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Thursday, said they have a “fundamental disagreement” with Trump.

Trump has greatly expanded the government’s use of tariffs since retaking office, raising the overall average tariff rate to an estimated 17%.

Many of his broadest levies were invoked using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. The administration’s use of that law has been repeatedly challenged, and multiple courts have found the actions unlawful.

The dispute has been elevated to the Supreme Court, which could soon deliver its ruling on the legality of Trump’s IEEPA tariffs.

Trump has claimed that his agenda would unravel if the high court rules against him.

“I hope we win the Supreme Court case, because if we don’t, [it’d] be a shame for our country,” he said Friday.

Trump floats new tariffs in push to acquire Greenland

U.S. threats of a Greenland takeover spark talk of trade wars

Published Fri, Jan 16 2026 4:35 AM EST Updated Fri, Jan 16 2026 4:51 AM EST

A U.S. move to seize Greenland could damage trade ties with the European Union, France’s finance minister has warned, as one analyst told CNBC that tariffs or economic sanctions could lead to a “trade war.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up talk of annexing Greenland this month — and has not ruled out taking it by force. Talks between the U.S., Denmark and Greenland on Wednesday over the future of the world’s largest island ended without a diplomatic breakthrough.

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told the Financial Times on Friday that economic ties between the U.S. and Europe could be damaged if Trump were to move to take the self-governing Danish territory.

“Greenland is a sovereign part of a sovereign country that is part of the EU. That shouldn’t be messed around [with],” he said.

U.S. threats of a Greenland takeover spark talk of trade wars

Russia says it’s monitoring Trump’s ‘extraordinary’ push to take over Greenland

Published Fri, Jan 16 2026 6:09 AM EST Updated Fri, Jan 16 2026 9:49 AM EST

Russia called the Trump administration’s threats to take over Greenland “extraordinary” on Friday, adding it would continue monitoring the situation.

“The situation is unusual, I would even say extraordinary from the standpoint of international law,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to comments reported by Russian state news outlet Ria Novosti.

U.S. President Donald Trump has talked up acquiring Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, since a daring military operation to depose Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3. He said the U.S. needs Greenland for national security and that only Washington can counter an alleged threat from Russia and China to the island.

Peskov added that Trump “has said that international law is not a priority for him. The situation is developing along a different trajectory, and we, along with the rest of the world, will be watching to see which one.”

A spokesperson for the Kremlin was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC.

Peskov’s comments come shortly after the U.S., Denmark and Greenland held crunch talks over the future of the Arctic island.

The White House meeting, which was described as “frank but constructive” by Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, ended on Wednesday without a diplomatic breakthrough, although they agreed to keep talking via a high-level working group.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Trump said he doesn’t “need international law” and that only his “own morality” and mind can stop him.

Several NATO members have deployed small numbers of troops to Greenland for a joint military exercise, meanwhile, seeking to beef up the military presence in and around the sparsely populated island.

Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland’s defense, Germany, France, Sweden and Norway have all confirmed plans to take part in the joint exercises, known as “Operation Arctic Endurance.”

Earlier in the week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that it was unacceptable to say that Beijing and Moscow were a threat to Greenland, accusing the West of double standards.

Russia calls Trump's threats to take over Greenland 'extraordinary'

In other news, with Trump’s threats to Canada, Canada moves closer to China.

Canada, China set for 'historic' gains from new partnership, Carney says

January 16, 2026 8:58 AM GMT

BEIJING, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Canada and China are forging a new strategic partnership that promises "historic" gains by leveraging on each other's strengths, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday.

The first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017, Carney was on a mission to rebuild ties with Canada's second-largest trading partner after the United States, following months of diplomatic efforts to resolve earlier tension.

"It is important to start this new strategic partnership at a time of division," Carney told Xi, calling for focus on areas that can bring "historic gains" for both, such as agriculture, agri-food, energy, and finance.

"That is where I believe we can make immediate and sustained progress," he added.

EFFORTS TO BUILD TIES FOLLOW U.S. TARIFFS

Canada is looking to strengthen ties with the world's second-biggest economy after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on some of its goods and suggested the longtime U.S. ally could become the country's 51st state.

China, similarly hit by Trump's tariffs since he returned to the White House last year, is also keen to cooperate with a Group of Seven nation in a traditional sphere of U.S. influence.

"I look forward to continuing to work with you, with a sense of responsibility toward history, our peoples, and the world, to improve China-Canada relations further," Xi told Carney.

Analysts say the rapprochement could reshape the political and economic context in which Sino-U.S. rivalry unfolds, although Ottawa is not expected to dramatically pivot away from Washington.

"Canada is a core U.S. ally and deeply embedded in American security and intelligence frameworks," said Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University's Centre for International Security and Strategy.

"It is therefore very unlikely to realign strategically away from Washington."

But if Ottawa took a more pragmatic and autonomous economic policy toward China, Beijing could point to it as evidence that U.S.-led decoupling was neither inevitable nor universally accepted among America’s closest partners, he added.

NEAR-TERM HURDLES

Despite the prospects for partnership, some economic and trade issues remain to be resolved.

In 2024, the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, following similar U.S. penalties.

At the time, Trudeau justified the tariffs on the grounds of unfair global market advantages secured by Chinese manufacturers thanks to state subsidies, a scenario that could hurt Canada's auto industry.

China retaliated last March with tariffs on more than $2.6 billion of Canadian farm and food products, such as canola oil and meal, followed by tariffs on canola seed in August, leading to a 2025 slump of 10.4% in China's imports of Canadian goods.

Tariff talks continue, Canada's industry minister told reporters in Beijing on Thursday.

Canada, China set for 'historic' gains from new partnership, Carney says | Reuters

Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession Watch.

Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.

Exclusive: Some in BOJ see scope to raise rates sooner than markets expect, sources say

January 16, 2026 2:50 AM GMT

TOKYO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Some Bank of Japan policymakers see scope to raise interest rates sooner than markets expect with April a distinct possibility, as a sliding yen risks adding to already broadening inflationary pressure, four sources familiar with its thinking said.

BOJ policymakers are facing the unenviable task of pushing up years of ultra-low borrowing costs even as rising global headwinds weigh on growth in an economy that has only recently started to shake off the effects of chronic deflation.

Having just raised interest rates to a 30-year high of 0.75% in December, the central bank is set to keep borrowing costs steady at its two-day policy meeting ending on January 23.

But many BOJ policymakers see scope for further rate hikes with some not ruling out the chance of action in April, the sources said, which would be earlier than dominant private-sector views centred on monetary tightening occurring in the second half of this year.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect the BOJ to wait until July before raising rates again, with more than 75% of them expecting it to climb to 1% or higher by September.

But some in the BOJ aren't ruling out earlier action if there is sufficient evidence that Japan will durably achieve its 2% inflation target, the sources said.

The sources commented on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak with the media.

The BOJ expects food-driven inflation to moderate in coming months and help achieve more wage-induced price rises that will keep core inflation sustainably at its 2% target - a projection it will likely maintain at next week's policy meeting.

The yen's sharp declines since October, however, have heightened uncertainty on whether cost-push price pressures will moderate as smoothly as the BOJ projects.

A weak yen pushes up the cost of importing fuel, food and various materials that could lead to higher prices of broader consumer products.

With companies already eager to pass on rising costs, persistent yen falls could give them another excuse to push up prices, a risk that is drawing increasing attention within the central bank, the sources said.

Exclusive: Some in BOJ see scope to raise rates sooner than markets expect, sources say | Reuters

Technology Update.

With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section.

Examples of Lithium Battery Fires (Approx. 4 minutes.)

Examples of Lithium Battery Fires

Next, the world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.

World Debt Clocks (usdebtclock.org)

Exponent Calculator

Enter values into any two of the input fields to solve for the third.

Exponent Calculator

This weekend’s music diversion. More Vivaldi. Approx. 10 minutes.

Vivaldi - Concerto for violin, organ and strings in F major (RV 542); Anton Hansch (1813-1876