President Trump withdraws threatened tariffs over Greenland
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.2K Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Trump has said that a possible deal covering the future of Greenland will achieve "everything" he wants - after rowing back on threats to seize the island by force or levy further tariffs on European allies who oppose his desire to own it. Mr Trump announced he had agreed what he called the "framework of a future deal" after talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, but gave few details. Also: several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, say they'll join President Trump's Board of Peace. Three activists who organised an annual Tiananmen Square vigil in Hong Kong, before it was banned, have gone on trial. We visit a car factory in Slovakia, a country which makes the highest number of cars per capita in the world. And researchers say they've found the world's oldest known cave painting on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.6 | I'm Celia Hatton, and in the early hours of Thursday, the 22nd of January, these are our main stories. |
| 0:18.6 | Donald Trump has rode back on threats to apply trade tariffs on countries opposing his ambitions to take over Greenland, |
| 0:25.8 | after what he called a very productive meeting with the head of NATO. |
| 0:29.8 | Three activists who organized an annual Tiananmen Square vigil in Hong Kong before it was banned |
| 0:35.2 | have gone on trial facing national security charges. |
| 0:41.3 | Also in this podcast, which country do you think manufactures the most cars per capita? |
| 0:47.8 | Slovakia is really in the heart of Europe, quite well connected to the big markets. |
| 0:52.8 | Slovakia gives us access to a skilled local workforce. |
| 0:56.7 | Slovakia, the small country that's a major car manufacturer. |
| 1:05.3 | We're starting with the latest on what appears to be a major political U-turn. |
| 1:10.7 | For weeks, Donald Trump has been setting off warning bells in Europe, saying the United |
| 1:15.8 | States needs to acquire Greenland. |
| 1:18.6 | And he began his day at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland by repeating his strategic |
| 1:24.1 | desire for what he described as a big, beautiful piece of ice. But he was already |
| 1:30.2 | softening his stance. He ruled out using military force to seize Greenland. Then, hours later, |
| 1:37.3 | a big breakthrough. Mr. Trump wrote on social media that he'd formed the framework of a future |
| 1:43.5 | deal with respect to Greenland and the |
| 1:45.9 | entire Arctic region. He added that he was dropping his planned extra tariffs on some European |
| 1:52.0 | nations after what he described as a very productive meeting with NATO Secretary General |
| 1:57.7 | Mark Ruta. But the president offered few other details when speaking to journalists. |
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