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The US Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a bid by German chemicals giant Bayer to put an end to a wave of lawsuits over the weedkiller Roundup.Bayer has spent more than $10 billion settling litigation linked to Roundup since it acquired its producer, the US agrochemical group Monsanto, in 2018.The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers glyphosate, one of Roundup’s ingredients, a probable human carcinogen, but Bayer says scientific studies and regulatory approvals show the weedkiller is safe.The top US court agreed to hear Bayer’s appeal of a $1.25 million award to a Missouri man who claimed Roundup was responsible for his blood cancer — one of thousands of similar “failure-to-warn” lawsuits facing the company.Bayer is arguing that it should be shielded from state lawsuits since the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the sale of Roundup to consumers and farmers without any warnings.The Trump administration has backed Bayer’s stance that a federal statute on pesticide labels preempts state laws requiring warnings on products that may be carcinogenic.In a brief, Solicitor General John Sauer said the EPA had “for decades” classified glyphosate as “not likely to be carcinogenic in humans,” arguing that the agency’s determination should preempt state rules on the matter.The Missouri case means “a jury may second-guess the agency’s science-based judgments,” Sauer said. “A manufacturer should not be left to ’50 different labeling regimes.'”Bayer CEO Bill Anderson welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to take the case.”It is time for the US legal system to establish that companies should not be punished under state laws for complying with federal warning label requirements,” Anderson said in a statement.Lori Ann Burd, the environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity, expressed disappointment.”It’s a sad day in America when our highest court agrees to consider depriving thousands of Roundup users suffering from cancer of their day in court,” Burd said in a statement.”Bayer keeps losing on the facts about its own product so now it’s asking the court to prevent juries from ever again hearing those facts,” she added.The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in the spring and issue a ruling by June or early July.

US President Donald Trump said Friday there was no immediate need to invoke the Insurrection Act over protests against immigration raids in Minnesota, a day after threatening to use the law.Trump had threatened the drastic measure that would have allowed him to deploy the military to the northern state for law enforcement purposes in response to protests against broad-reaching immigration raids spearheaded by his administration.”If I needed it, I would use it. I don’t think there is any reason right now to use it,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the law that grants the deployment of soldiers on US soil.The Insurrection Act allows a president to sidestep the Posse Comitatus Act to suppress “armed rebellion” or “domestic violence” and use the armed forces “as he considers necessary” to enforce the 19th-century law.Crowds of protesters have clashed with immigration officers across the city of Minneapolis, opposing their efforts to target undocumented migrants with some officers responding with violence.Demonstrations dramatically expanded following the killing of Renee Nicole Good, 37, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on January 7 as the Trump administration pressed operations to catch undocumented migrants.- ‘Incitement of violence’ -Federal agents fired their weapons in two separate incidents, wounding a man from Venezuela Wednesday, and in Good’s killing last week.Federal prosecutors also charged a man with stealing a rifle from an FBI vehicle and he is due in court Friday.US Attorney Daniel Rosen claimed that local officials were responsible for the “incitement of violence against federal law enforcement… which resulted here in the theft of a firearm from an FBI vehicle.”A woman was roughly pulled from her car by officers Tuesday, an AFP correspondent saw, amid the escalating deployment of federal officers to the state.Proponents of immigration enforcement have also begun to face off with those who oppose it in the state, leading to tense encounters.The Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reported that divisions within the anti-ICE movement were beginning to emerge over how aggressively to resist the enforcement efforts. Activists have also become increasingly wary of “far-right provocateurs trying to bait demonstrators into rioting,” the publication reported.Minnesota’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter has reported an uptick in complaints against ICE officers.Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accused federal agents of waging “a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota,” in a video posted to X Wednesday night. On Wednesday, the family of Good announced that they had retained a top law firm to probe the killing ahead of launching possible legal action against the officer and the government.The lawyers demanded Thursday that federal officials — including the officer who fired the shots that killed Good — preserve records and evidence relating to the incident.

OpenAI announced Friday it will begin testing advertisements on ChatGPT in the coming weeks, as the wildly popular artificial intelligence chatbot seeks to increase revenue to cover its soaring costs.The ads will initially appear in the United States for free and lower-tier subscribers, the company said in a blog post outlining its long-anticipated move. Premium Pro and Enterprise subscribers will remain ad-free.The integration of advertising has been a key question for generative AI chatbots, with companies largely reluctant to interrupt the user experience with ads.But the exorbitant costs of running AI services may have forced OpenAI’s hand.Only a small percentage of its nearly one billion users pay for subscription services, putting pressure on the company to find new revenue sources.Since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022, OpenAI’s valuation has soared to $500 billion in funding rounds — higher than any other private company. Some expect it could go public with a trillion-dollar valuation.But the ChatGPT maker burns through cash at a furious rate, mostly on the powerful computing required to deliver its services.With its move, OpenAI brings its business model closer to tech giants Google and Meta, which have built advertising empires on the back of their free-to-use services.Unlike OpenAI, those companies have massive advertising revenue to fund AI innovation — with Amazon also building a solid ad business on its shopping and video streaming platforms.”Ads aren’t a distraction from the gen AI race; they’re how OpenAI stays in it,” said Jeremy Goldman, an analyst at Emarketer.”If ChatGPT turns on ads, OpenAI is admitting something simple and consequential: the race isn’t just about model quality anymore; it’s about monetizing attention without poisoning trust,” he added.OpenAI’s pivot comes as Google gains ground in the generative AI race, infusing services including Gmail, Maps and YouTube with AI features that—in addition to its Gemini chatbot—compete directly with ChatGPT.OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has long expressed his dislike for advertising, citing concerns that ads could create distrust about ChatGPT’s content.To address these concerns, OpenAI pledged that ads would never influence ChatGPT’s answers and that user conversations would remain private from advertisers.”Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you,” the company stated. “Answers are optimized based on what’s most helpful to you. Ads are always separate and clearly labeled.”- ‘Trust over revenue’ -The release was announced by Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, a former Meta executive who oversaw the social media giant’s advertising business before leaving for Instacart.”As we introduce ads, it’s crucial we preserve what makes ChatGPT valuable in the first place,” Simo said in a blog post.”That means you need to trust that ChatGPT’s responses are driven by what’s objectively useful, never by advertising.”In an apparent reference to Meta, TikTok and Google’s YouTube — platforms accused of maximizing user engagement to boost ad views — OpenAI said it would “not optimize for time spent in ChatGPT.””We prioritize user trust and user experience over revenue,” it added.The commitment to user well-being is a sensitive issue for OpenAI, which has faced accusations of allowing ChatGPT to privilege emotional engagement over safety, allegedly contributing to mental distress among some users.The move comes as ChatGPT Go, the company’s $8 monthly subscription tier, becomes available in the United States and all markets where the service operates.

Donald Trump on Friday warned that he could slap tariffs on countries that do not support his Greenland takeover plans, as US Congress members visited Copenhagen to give their backing for Denmark and its autonomous Arctic island.The bipartisan delegation, on a two-day trip to the Danish capital, said the US president’s long-held territorial ambitions — strongly rejected by Denmark — were not shared by the American people.Europeans have also been showing their backing for Greenland, in a military reconnaissance mission that a Danish general said Washington was invited to and which was linked to what Russia does after the war in Ukraine.Trump, again insisting the United States needed mineral-rich Greenland for its “national security”, warned that he “may put a tariff” on countries that oppose that stance.The 11 visiting US lawmakers held talks with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen, as well as Denmark’s foreign and defence ministers, parliamentarians and business leaders.Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said there was “good dialogue” and stressed it was important to “nurture” ties between the United States, Denmark and Greenland. “The vast majority” of Americans do not agree that it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, she told reporters.”Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset,” she added.- ‘One idiot’ -The visit follows a meeting in Washington on Wednesday at which Danish representatives said Copenhagen and Washington were in “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland’s future.Democratic Senator Chris Coons said the purpose of the Congress members’ visit was to “listen respectfully to our friends, our trusted allies and partners here in Denmark and from Greenland”.The lawmakers were then to return to the United States “and share those perspectives so that we can lower the temperature and have a more constructive dialogue about the best path forward”, he said.In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, residents welcomed the show of support.”Congress would never approve of a military action in Greenland. It’s just one idiot speaking,” a 39-year-old union representative told AFP.”If he (Trump) does it, he’ll get impeached or kicked out. If people in Congress want to save their own democracy, they have to step up,” said the union rep, speaking on condition of anonymity.- Demonstrations -Trump has repeatedly criticised Denmark — a NATO ally — for, in his view, not doing enough to ensure Greenland’s security.The US president has pursued that argument, despite strategically located Greenland — as part of Denmark — being covered by NATO’s security umbrella.The head of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, Major General Soren Andersen, said the United States were invited to the military mission, which he said was “about Russia”.”When the war in Ukraine is over, hopefully with a good result for Ukraine, it is our expectation that Russia will move the resources they have been using in Ukraine on other theatres,… including in the Arctic,” he told AFP.”So, in order to prepare for that, we simply have to step up… train, and that is what we are doing up here.”But Andersen said he had not seen any Russian or Chinese combat ships in the area in the two and a half years he has been commander.Military personnel were more visible in Nuuk on Friday, an AFP journalist said, days after Denmark said it was beefing up its defence on the island. The White House has said Trump’s aim to take over Greenland would not be affected by the European military presence, which French armed forces minister Alice Rufo said was a sign that the continent was prepared to defend sovereignty.Britain, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have announced the deployment of small numbers of military personnel to prepare for future exercises in the Arctic. Large demonstrations are planned across Denmark and Greenland on Saturday to protest against Trump’s plan.Thousands of people have taken to social networks to say they intend to take part in the protests organised by Greenlandic associations in Nuuk and Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he may slap trade tariffs on countries that don’t support his plans to take over Greenland, part of the territory of NATO ally Denmark.”I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said at a health roundtable at the White House.”I may do that,” added Trump.Trump compared the possible Greenland tariffs to those that he threatened on France and Germany last year over the price of pharmaceutical products.The threat is the latest pressure tactic by Republican Trump as he steps up his bid to acquire the autonomous Arctic island, a goal that he has threatened to achieve by military means if necessary.Trump claims the United States needs mineral-rich Greenland and has accused Denmark of not doing enough to ensure its security against US rivals Russia and China.The US president on Friday also appeared to question his country’s core role in NATO over Greenland, while adding that Washington was “talking to” the military alliance about the issue.”We’re going to see. NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland,” Trump later told reporters when asked if he would pull the United States out of NATO if it doesn’t help it acquire Greenland.”We need Greenland for national security very badly. If we don’t have it, we have a hole in national security, especially when it comes to what we’re doing in terms of the Golden Dome,” he added, referring to his planned missile defense system.European nations who are members of NATO have in recent days shown their support for Denmark and Greenland over Trump’s escalating threats, including by sending troops to the strategic territory.A bipartisan US Congress delegation also began a visit to Copenhagen on Friday to voice their backing for Denmark and Greenland.The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland visited the White House on Wednesday for talks to defuse the issue but said afterward that they remained in “fundamental disagreement” with Trump.But the United States, Denmark and Greenland had agreed to set up a working group to continue talks every two to three weeks, the White House said on Thursday.Britain, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have announced the deployment of small numbers of military personnel to prepare for future exercises in the Arctic. But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the European troops did not impact Trump’s “goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all.”

US President Donald Trump said Friday there was no immediate need to invoke the Insurrection Act over protests against immigration raids in Minnesota, a day after threatening to use the law.Trump had threatened the drastic measure that would have allowed him to deploy the military to the northern state for law enforcement purposes in response to protests against broad-reaching immigration raids spearheaded by his administration.”If I needed it, I would use it. I don’t think there is any reason right now to use it,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the law that allows the deployment of soldiers on US soil.Crowds of protesters have clashed with immigration officers across the city of Minneapolis, opposing their efforts to target undocumented migrants with some officers responding with violence.Federal agents fired their weapons in two separate incidents, wounding a man from Venezuela Wednesday and killing an American woman last week.A woman was roughly pulled from her car by officers Tuesday, an AFP correspondent saw, amid the escalating deployment of federal officers to the state.Proponents of immigration enforcement have also begun to face off with those who oppose it in the state, leading to tense encounters.Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accused federal agents of waging “a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota,” in a video posted to X Wednesday night. The Insurrection Act allows a president to sidestep the Posse Comitatus Act to suppress “armed rebellion” or “domestic violence” and use the armed forces “as he considers necessary” to enforce the 19th-century law.

The son of Iran’s late shah said Friday he was confident that mass protests would topple the Islamic republic and urged international action, as President Donald Trump holds off on intervening in the unrest.Reza Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the Washington area, has presented himself as leader of the opposition as the cleric-run state ruthlessly represses mass protests.”The Islamic republic will fall — not if, but when,” Pahlavi told a news conference in Washington.Since the demonstrations erupted in the waning days of 2025 with a rallying cry of solving Iran’s severe economic woes, Pahlavi has pleaded for intervention by the United States.Trump had repeatedly warned Iran that if it kills protesters, the United States would intervene militarily. He also encouraged Iranians to take over state institutions, saying “help is on the way.”But two weeks after he first suggested help, he has not acted. Security forces in the meantime have killed at least 3,428 protesters, according to Norway-based group Iran Human Rights, with other estimates putting the toll at more than 5,000 or possibly as high as 20,000.Trump instead has highlighted what he said was an end to the killing of protesters, as the size of demonstrations diminished in recent days.Trump wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform that Iran had called off executions of hundreds of protesters and said to the clerical state, “Thank you!”Pahlavi, seeking to touch a nerve with Trump, called on him not to be like Democratic predecessor Barack Obama who negotiated with Tehran.”I believe that President Trump is a man of his word and ultimately he will stand with the Iranian people as he has said,” Pahlavi said when asked if Trump had given false hope.”Iranian people are taking decisive actions on the ground. It is now time for the international community to join them fully.”Gulf Arab monarchies, despite frequent friction with Iran, have urged Trump to show caution due to uncertainties about the future.- ‘Surgical’ strikes -Pahlavi called for the targeting of the command structure of the Revolutionary Guards, the elite unit of the Islamic republic, as it is key to “instituting terror at home or terrorism abroad.””I’m calling for a surgical strike,” said Pahlavi, who controversially backed Israel’s military campaign on Iran in June.He also called on all countries to expel diplomats from Iran and to help restore internet access, which has been severely hampered.Many protesters have chanted the name of Pahlavi, whose pro-Western father fled in 1979 in the Islamic revolution.Pahlavi said he wants to be a figurehead to lead a transition to a secular democracy, with a popular referendum to choose the next system of government.Pahlavi, 65, also has plenty of detractors who suspect a desire by his supporters to restore the monarchy and say changes should come from the opposition within Iran.”I reaffirm my lifelong pledge to lead the movement that will take back our country from the anti-Iranian hostile force that occupies it and kills its children,” Pahlavi said.”I will return to Iran.”Pahlavi promised that a new Iran would have better relations with the Islamic republic’s sworn enemies — the United States and Israel — and integrate into the global economy.He said Iran would quickly normalize relations with Israel in a “Cyrus Accord,” a reference to Cyrus the Great, the celebrated Persian emperor who freed Jews from Babylonian captivity.”Iran today should have been the next South Korea of the Middle East,” he said. “Today we have become North Korea.”

On a sunny January morning in Florida, Donald Trump went shopping for marble and onyx for his new White House ballroom. A few hours later, he was bombing Venezuela.It was just one day in an extraordinary year since his return to office, but it summed up how Trump has reshaped the US presidency through the sheer force of his own personality.And as he enters his second year back in the White House, Trump is increasingly acting as if there are no checks on his power — either at home or abroad.”He has really personalized the presidency,” Noah Rosenblum, professor of law at New York University, told AFP.If the former reality TV star’s first term dominated news cycles because of its chaos, Trump’s second has done so because of a single-minded determination to stamp his mark on the world’s most powerful job.He began with a freewheeling Oval Office appearance on January 20, 2025, during which he pardoned hundreds of pro-Trump rioters who attacked the US Capitol four years earlier.The Republican leader has kept up the pace ever since. An unprecedented blitz of executive orders, outrageous pronouncements and directives for the persecution of his political opponents came in the following days and months.Trump has shaken the foundations of American democracy as the country prepares to mark its 250th anniversary, caused global turmoil with his tariffs and upended the global order.”There is one thing. My own morality,” Trump, who is the first convicted felon to be elected president, told The New York Times when asked if there were limits on his power.At times Trump has also cultivated what looks like a cult of personality, revamping the White House and building a $400 million ballroom, and adding his name to the famed Kennedy Center for the performing arts.And 2026 dawned with an unapologetic Trump Unbound: ordering the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, threatening Greenland and sending immigration agents on a deadly operation into Minnesota.Rosenblum said the past year had “revealed that the old system had less legitimacy and was more fragile than I had understood, than was widely understood.” – ‘Expect trouble’ -Trump has begun 2026 with a bang. Yet it could also finally show the limits of a presidency that revolves around the whims of one man who will turn 80 years old in June.The biggest inflection point could come in November’s midterm elections. While these votes for the control of Congress are always effectively a referendum on sitting presidents, this year’s will more than ever be a verdict on Trump himself.His approval numbers remain low, with the White House battling to show that his economic plans are working despite voter anger over affordability.If Republicans take a hammering, there are questions about whether Trump could seek to overturn the results, like he tried when Democrat Joe Biden beat him to the presidency in 2020.”I expect trouble,” William Galston of the Brookings Institution told AFP.”He is more actively involved in the management of the midterms than any president I’ve seen.”Galston said however that Trump was unlikely to be able to mount any meaningful challenge if Republicans lose control of the House, which would leave him a lame duck president for the remaining two years of his term.Trump faces challenges on other fronts too. The Supreme Court could clip Trump’s wings on tariffs, while his bypassing of Congress by the use of executive orders could also backfire, said Galston. “The problem with governing by fiat is that what you weave by day, your successor can unravel by night, which leads to far fewer permanent achievements,” Galston said.With Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, Ukraine and Gaza on Trump’s agenda in 2026, the self-professed “America First” president also appears preoccupied by foreign policy.”That’s a problem politically because a lot of the people who voted for him didn’t vote for that, they voted for them to focus on the economy. He’s paid a significant price for that,” added Galston.

Michelle Sims hesitated when asked if she still backed Donald Trump one year into his presidency. “Yeah — to a certain extent,” she sighed as she eyed groceries in a Pennsylvania food bank.Sims, who does not work due to medical issues, went on to list her worries about the high cost of living and cuts to welfare programs — problems that she had hoped Trump would improve.The 50-year-old is one of many Americans whose support for Trump has waned since he took office last January, as opinion polls show a slump in the president’s approval rating.Sims, wearing a gray cardigan and a large hair clip, told AFP she had particularly wanted Trump to deliver on his promises to address affordability issues.But while she is happy to see gas prices down, “I don’t think everything was achieved.””My expectations were a little bit higher. I was hoping more would have been done by now,” said Sims.She lives in a suburb of Philadelphia in Bucks County, an area that politicians often target in US elections as voters “swing” between candidates, rather than consistently backing the same party.Trump won there in 2024 by a tiny margin — the first time since 1988 a Republican presidential candidate has taken Bucks County. But in a sign of shifting sentiment, a wave of Democratic candidates swept the county in 2025 local elections.”People just want government to work. They don’t want chaos,” Danny Ceisler, the newly elected Democratic sheriff of Bucks County, told AFP. Ceisler successfully lobbied against his officers partnering with ICE, the immigration enforcement agency leading Trump’s mass deportation drive — a key and contentious pillar of his presidency.- Satisfied, but Greenland plan ‘ridiculous’ -Analysts say that lukewarm support for Trump in the first place means some who voted for him have sat out of recent elections in Pennsylvania and other states, where Democrats have also enjoyed major electoral victories. “In 2024, his narrow winning margin was enabled by a fairly modest-sized cohort of voters in places like Bucks County who were dissatisfied with the direction of the country, particularly on the cost of living,” said Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion in Pennsylvania. “That group of voters has become disillusioned with Trump, with their hopes for a more affordable life largely unrealized and their reservations about Trump’s character and leadership only enhanced.”A Gallup poll last month showed Trump’s approval rating at 36 percent, down from 47 percent when he took office. Faced with a drop in popularity ahead of crucial 2026 midterm elections, which will decide who controls Congress, the president has returned to campaign-style rallies to engage voters. Joe Kramley, a retired Navy technician who voted for Trump in 2024 mostly due to immigration worries, said he was getting fed up with the president.”I wish he’d shut up and (just) do what he’s going to do,” Kramley, 83, told AFP in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on a historic street lined with shops and cafes.”I’m satisfied with some of his programs. A lot of them aren’t working out. Inflation is still here,” he said, also calling Trump’s repeated remarks that he wants to take over Greenland “ridiculous.”Asked if he would vote for Trump again given the chance, Kramley said it “depends on who’s running” — but he sees no viable Democratic presidential candidate.At a diner on the outskirts of Doylestown, views were similarly mixed.”It’s not so much that I like Trump, I like the decisions he’s making and direction of the country,” said Gary Armstrong, an insurance salesman and self-described conservative. The 68-year-old said he is “very happy” with his vote for Trump “over what I see on the far left side.”

US President Donald Trump’s demands to take over NATO ally Denmark’s territory Greenland have thrust alliance chief Mark Rutte into an uncomfortable position.His strategy for now: say as little as possible and try to change the subject. Facing warnings the crisis could tear the 76-year-old military alliance apart, the former Dutch premier has sought to keep himself and NATO out of the fray. Instead, he’s tried to deflect Trump’s desires by stubbornly focusing on joint efforts to boost Arctic security, dodged tricky questions and even kept on praising the US leader. That approach hasn’t always gone down too well.At a meeting with members of the European Parliament this week Rutte was repeatedly put on the spot.”Allow me to address you as the guy who’s looking after all of us,” said agitated Danish lawmaker Stine Bosse.”Please give us an indication of what this alliance can do if two countries within the alliance cannot agree?”Rutte, however, remained unfazed. “My role as secretary general, I’m very clear — I never ever comment when there are discussions within the alliance,” he stonewalled. “You work behind the scenes.”The alliance chief insisted his energy was squarely on making sure NATO was doing enough to protect the Arctic — a key justification in Trump’s rationale for wanting Greenland.”I believe there is a bigger issue at stake here, and that is the defence of the high north, the defence of the Arctic area,” Rutte said. He then went even further and repeated his argument that Trump has in fact made NATO’s alliance stronger by forcing others to spend more on defence. “I know you will all hate me now saying this, but this is what I believe,” he said.- ‘Keep the Americans onboard’ -That sangfroid is a large part of the reason why Rutte is in the job.Billed as a “Trump-whisperer”, he is one of a handful of European leaders who have been able to win the ear of the unpredictable US president.The wily political operator converted the goodwill into a major success at NATO’s summit this summer by securing a landmark spending deal that kept Trump happy.Among diplomats at the alliance’s headquarters, there is a general understanding of Rutte’s low-key approach.”It’s difficult for Rutte to take the lead here as he has to keep the alliance together and keep the Americans onboard,” said Jamie Shea, a former senior NATO official now with Chatham House think tank. “He can’t take the European side against Washington.” While some European leaders like Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen and France’s Emmanuel Macron have been more outspoken — the concrete steps taken so far have focused on reinforcing NATO’s position in Greenland and the Arctic.  Copenhagen has sent more troops to the island and other European powers have dispatched personnel as a possible prelude to a bigger NATO deployment.  Shea said Rutte needs to hammer out the details for a potential NATO mission in the Arctic and get Trump to agree to it as a possible part of the solution. “He needs to work behind the scenes quickly but quietly to sell the idea to the US,” Shea said. – ‘Silver bullet’ -The furore over Greenland comes at a delicate time as Europe grapples with Trump’s push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. After months of nudging, Washington finally seems to have drawn closer to Kyiv’s position — but any progress is fragile.Meanwhile NATO itself is eyeing a potentially combustible summit with Trump in Turkey this summer where allies will have to show him they’re making good on the vow to spend more.”Rutte knows that if he fails now he could get burnt and lose his capital with Trump,” a senior NATO diplomat told AFP.”He wanted to save his silver bullet for Ukraine, but maybe now will have to try to manufacture another one for Greenland.”But if Trump does eventually press ahead with his threats against Greenland, possibly even resorting to force, the NATO chief may not have an option but to intervene more forcefully.”Rutte still has a responsibility, which is to decide when he thinks it is most appropriate to chip in,” said Camille Grand, another former senior NATO official.”At the moment, he says he is not getting involved in disputes between member states. That may work for now, but at some point he risks being caught up in it”.The man himself appears to be unperturbed. “I’m thoroughly enjoying the role and the job,” he said, when an EU lawmaker asked if he feared being the last NATO secretary general.”I was not planning to quit already, but I’m sure there will be a successor someday”.