Wednesday came with a a fast-spreading shockwave across geopolitics, markets, and human rights.
Donald Trump ignited transatlantic tensions by declaring the US Greenland’s sole guardian, triggering EU retaliation.
At Davos, Jamie Dimon torched a proposed credit-card rate cap as economically ruinous.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International detailed Iran’s lethal crackdown on bystanders, and global risk aversion sent Bitcoin sharply lower.
Trump declares US sole guardian of Greenland
US President Trump doubled down on Greenland acquisition at Davos on Wednesday, insisting America alone can secure the Arctic territory.
The remarks triggered the EU Parliament’s nuclear option: freezing the $1 trillion US-EU trade deal indefinitely.
Though Trump claimed he won’t use military force, his framing painted Washington as Greenland’s only viable steward against Chinese and Russian threats.
The ultimatum backfired spectacularly.
Bernd Lange, chair of Parliament’s trade committee, suspended ratification of the Turnberry agreement, vowing no progress until Trump abandons coercion.
Britain’s Keir Starmer flatly rejected acquiescence under tariff threats.
France’s Macron proposed NATO military exercises in Greenland as a riposte.
JPMorgan’s Dimon fires back at credit card cap
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon unloaded on Trump’s proposed 10% credit card interest rate cap at Davos on Wednesday, calling it an “economic disaster” that would strip access for 80% of Americans.
The banking kingpin argued the administration has it backwards: price caps don’t lower costs, they shrink supply.
Banks would slash credit lines rather than absorb margin compression, hitting mom-and-pop retailers, restaurants, and municipalities hardest when families miss utility payments.
Dimon’s surgical strike carried a sharp edge of mockery.
He suggested piloting the cap in Vermont and Massachusetts, home to progressive senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, knowing full well that leftists “will learn a real lesson” once credit markets seize up.
Iran’s killing spree extends to bystanders
Iran’s security forces have massacred thousands beyond protest lines, shooting art students heading home, 16-year-old girls observing demonstrations from sidewalks, and shopkeepers sheltering teenagers.
Twenty-two-year-old art student Arash collapsed lifeless after a shotgun blast in Tehran despite being a bystander on January 8; his friend watched security personnel in dark uniforms open fire indiscriminately at crowds.
Amnesty International documented unlawful use of lethal force coordinated nationwide: snipers positioned on rooftops, armed vehicles, metal-pellet ammunition targeting heads and torsos.
An Iranian official confirmed at least 5,000 deaths, including 500 security personnel, though doctors inside Iran cite 16,500-18,000 killed with 330,000 injured.
Bitcoin bleeds below $88K amid geopolitical chaos
Bitcoin crashed below $88,000 Wednesday, erasing a $10,000 rally from the year’s opening as traders bailed on overleveraged long positions amid geopolitical uncertainty.
The worldʼs largest crypto tumbled 4% to intraday lows near $87,800 after briefly flirting with $90,000, triggering a cascade of forced liquidations totaling $1.8 billion across crypto markets in 48 hours.
The sell-off came after a brutal day across Wall Street with S&P 500 and Nasdaq tanking 2%+ (worst session since October), while gold surged 2.18% as capital stampeded toward havens.
QCP Capital pegged Bitcoin as a “high-beta risk asset,” vulnerable to Trump’s tariff escalation and the EU’s frozen trade talks with Washington.
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