Treasury Secretary Bessent says Denmark and its investment in the US are ‘irrelevant’
By Kaanita Iyer, David Goldman, CNN
(CNN) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday offered some biting words about Denmark, which maintains territorial control over Greenland, after the European country’s pension fund announced it would unwind its investment in US government bonds.
Bessent said in response that Denmark and its investment in the United States were “irrelevant.”
“Denmark’s investment in US Treasury bonds – like Denmark itself – is irrelevant,” Bessent told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when asked how concerned he is about institutional investors in Europe potentially pulling out of Treasuries.
“It is less than $100 million. They’ve been selling Treasuries. They have for years,” Bessent continued, adding, “I’m not concerned at all.”
Bessent was referring to AkademikerPension, the Danish pension operator, which said this week it was dumping its $100 million worth of US Treasury holdings because of “poor government finances.”
The $100 million makes up a very small portion of the $30.8 trillion US Treasury market but Denmark itself holds just under $10 billion worth of US bonds. As Bessent noted, that investment has been on the decline for several years – the country held just under $18 billion of US Treasuries as recently as 2021.
The European Union collectively owns $8 trillion of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt.
Bessent’s comments come as President Donald Trump has set his sight on acquiring Greenland and has threatened to slap significant new tariffs on any ally that opposes his efforts.
European countries have criticized Trump’s plan, and several NATO members have deployed small numbers of military personnel to Greenland to participate in joint exercises with Denmark.
A Deutsche Bank analyst this week warned that Trump’s actions in Greenland risked the EU unloading US debt, a move that could have significant impacts, including raising borrowing costs and exacerbating cost of living problems. Bessent on Wednesday criticized that analysis.
“This notion that Europeans would be selling US assets came from a single analyst at Deutsche Bank. Of course, the fake news media, led by the Financial Times, amplified it,” Bessent told reporters. “And the CEO of Deutsche Bank called to say that Deutsche Bank does not stand by that analyst’s report.”
Throughout Trump’s tariff saga and other disputes between the US and other countries, Wall Street analysts have theorized that America’s largest debt holders, including Japan ($1.2 trillion), China ($682 billion) and Canada ($472 billion), could begin to unwind their US Treasury holdings, preventing Congress from raising money to fund the massive debt. But that hasn’t come to pass – demand for US Treasuries has remained high, affording Trump and Congress the ability to pay for his domestic policy agenda and tax cuts, which added to the country’s already high debt load.
On Tuesday, Trump suggested that if courts block his ability to use tariffs – a case the Supreme Court is considering – he could use tools beyond tariffs to acquire Greenland. During his speech Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, Trump ruled out using force to annex the Arctic island.
As global elites gather in Davos this week, top European officials are planning to use the summit to deescalate tensions, three people familiar with the discussions told CNN.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Adam Cancryn, Kevin Liptak, Alejandra Jaramillo and Lex Harvey contributed to this report.
