Hi Global Recap readers,
As he does wherever he goes, President Trump is drawing headlines, yet again. This time by appearing at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
But even when he’s not on stage, his presence hangs over European leaders. 👇🏼
🇫🇮 FINLAND
President Backtracks
Finland's president told a Davos audience Europe can defend itself without direct U.S. military help, then quickly backtracked with a few caveats.
Scene. On Jan. 21, 2026, at the World Economic Forum, Finnish President Alexander Stubb took the Davos stage and said Europe is "unequivocally" capable of defending itself if attacked, even if the United States stays out militarily.
Hardware. He then clarified that Finland has F-18 and F-35 fighters, but they require U.S. training, sustainment, and supply chain to remain operational. However, he counts on the U.S. to continue support because it's in its best interest.
Backtrack. But it’s not only that. About eleven minutes later, when the interviewer pressed him on his claim that Europe could defend itself without the Americans, he quickly backtracked, saying that those were not his exact words.
But the interviewer kept pushing, asking whether, if it came down to it, Europe needed to prepare to “defend itself against America.” Stubb pushed back again, refusing to answer hypotheticals.
💭 Thoughts. Many are criticizing Stubb’s comments, but for different reasons.
» Some argue he’s being unrealistically naïve about the extent of the U.S. grip on European security.
» Others are asking why he appeared to retreat from his initially firm Europe-first stance.
In my view, he likely came in with answers prepared for pre-submitted questions, but the interviewer veered off-script. That forced him to improvise—and only afterward, once the potential backlash became clear, did he try to walk his remarks back.
🇪🇺 EUROPE
Infinite Deal
Donald Trump says he and NATO chief Mark Rutte struck an "infinite deal" on Greenland in Davos, and Europe is stuck deciphering what, if anything, actually changed.
Claim. After meeting Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump told reporters he had agreed "the framework of a future deal" on Greenland, then dressed it up as "a deal that's forever" and "an infinite deal."
Here are some of the rumored points of the deal:
Mineral rights for the U.S.
Expanded U.S. military presence and infrastructure
U.S. sovereignty over "small pockets" of Greenlandic land
U.S. military operational autonomy, allowing activities without Danish approval
Tariff. Trump also walked back his threat to slap 10% tariffs on 8 European countries over Greenland, which took immediate heat off EU leaders gathering in Brussels for a summit on January 22.
Response. Danish Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the day ended "on a better note" because Trump ruled out taking Greenland by force and paused the trade war talk.
However, in an interview with Sky News, Danish MP Sascha Faxe argued that any deal between NATO and the United States that excludes Greenland is “not real.”
In an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the idea of the U.S. forcibly taking Greenland from Denmark never came up in his meetings with President Trump in Switzerland during the World Economic Forum.
🧬 MEMES
Trump Takes All
María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, gifted her medal to Trump as a personal gift last week.
Trump takes Harry’s Triwizard Cup
Trump takes Sauron’s One Ring
🇹🇼 TAIWAN
China Recruits Taiwan Guards
Lai Chung-yu
Meet Sgt. Lai Chung-yu.
He served in a military police battalion that guards the offices of Taiwan’s president and many senior officials. That job meant proximity to sensitive places, familiar faces, and the kind of everyday security details that do not show up in public briefings.
Perfect. From a CCP recruiter’s point of view, Lai was close to perfect. He understood who stands where, who checks what, and how protection actually works when the cameras are off and the schedules change.
Lai was recruit by Chinese intelligence and passed along sensitive information.
He was caught and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Around NT$460,000 (US$14,500) was confiscated.
Alarm. Taiwan is warning troops that Beijing is infiltrating Taiwan’s armed forces with a steady drip of recruitment, trying to turn insiders into sources and, in some cases, loyalists. Chinese operatives reportedly have been enticing Taiwan’s military personnel to share intelligence and, at times, to pledge allegiance to China.
Would you sell out your country for $14,500?
🇩🇪 GERMANY
Berlin Drone Spy Arrest
German prosecutors arrested Ilona W, a German-Ukrainian woman, accusing her of espionage tied to drone deliveries for Ukraine.
They say she fed intelligence to a Russian handler while moving through Berlin’s political circuit.
Arrest. On January 21 in Berlin, prosecutors detained Ilona W (withholding her full surname under German privacy rules) after alleging she spied for Russia by collecting details about drones intended for Ukraine.
Tradecraft. Investigators say she built dossiers on people she met at political events and gathered information on defense industry sites, drone tests, and planned drone shipments to Ukraine.
The allegation is that this material was passed to a handler described as working for Russian intelligence, and that she even helped this contact access Berlin events under aliases to widen the network.
Prosecutors say she also leaned on personal familiarity, approaching former German defense ministry employees she already knew.
Fallout. In a separate action the same day, prosecutors also announced arrests of a Russian and a German national.
They are suspected of organizing supplies for pro-Russian militia groups linked to the self-declared "People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk"—a designated foreign terrorist group.
