Staggering amount of US treasuries dumped as Trump salivates over Greenland

[turbinetree]

By Stephen Prager, Common Dreams
Published January 20, 2026 6:22 PM ET

A Danish pension fund is selling off its US treasuries in the wake of President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to annex its sovereign territory, Greenland.

The fund, known as AkademikerPension, said on Tuesday that it was selling off assets worth $100 million by the end of this month.

Its investment director, Anders Schelde, insisted that the decision was due to “poor US government finances,” and had nothing to do with Trump’s bellicose threats in recent weeks, which have led several European nations to move troops to the island and conduct military exercises in preparation for a US invasion.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-greenland-2674914681/

Hey orange hair a**hole how's your math did you ever attend a class at Wharton.............your a fucking idiot....... you really are.............

[Aristus]

1. So it begins...

Great Depression II, here we come...

[NotHardly]

9. Never ask for whom the bells tolls....

For Whom the Bell Tolls
by John Donne

No man (person) is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's(person's)death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind (humankind).
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

[ancianita]

13. Yes. Literature reacquaints readers with reality. But the felon obviously doesn't read.

But the writing might be on the wall...

Will we all go down on the oligarch Titanic?? Should we all become armed preppers?

[raccoon]

34. I can think of one clod I wish would be washed away by the sea.

[Mme. Defarge]

2. This may be what it takes

to get his “handlers’” attention.

[Bev54]

10. I really hope that after listening to some of the leader's speeches at Davos,

the many wealth fund managers attending will drop their US treasury holdings as well.

[Johonny]

3. The finacial world expressing to Trump

Who really runs the world. The longer he hold this delusion, the more economic pain they will press on the US. He can rant and rave about how great things are, but things aren't great, and economically things can go down hill fast. He had no economic solutions.

[Melon]

4. $100 million is a pittance. It was the warning

Of bigger things coming that shook the market. $100 million sale wouldn’t cause a 2% drop.

[slightlv]

7. Like... if China joined the dumping club! nt

[h2ebits]

31. Actually, I thought that I saw someplace that China was already dumping treasuries.

Not sure where I saw it. Did anybody else see anything? It would have been a 2-3 months ago.

[Melon]

37. Not dumping at all. Countries ebb and flow

On the bonds held. China decreased holdings in 2025 but other countries like Canada increased. It is a fluid number.

[h2ebits]

38. Thanks for the correction. That must have been what I saw and remembered inaccurately.

[IronLionZion]

29. Do we want to f around and find out what happens when the warning is ignored?

MAGA is playing dangerous games they don't understand

[no_hypocrisy]

5. That would add to The National Debt, right?

[Bev54]

12. That is the national debt, funded by selling US treasury bonds.

How is he going to fund his military and ICE if he can't continue to borrow, which increases the debt.

[paleotn]

15. Not directly, but it still ain't good for any of us.

It's a bit unintuitive, but generally yields (interest rates) on debt rise and fall inversely to demand. Dumping creates an oversupply of US Treasury debt for sale in the market. Like any oversupply situation, the price buyers are willing to pay for that debt drops since there's so much of it for sale. The unintuitive part is... actual interest rate on that debt increase....

....If I can buy a $100 treasury note paying 5% interest for say $80 because there's an oversupply in the market from dumping, I'm still getting a $5 check from the Treasury as interest payment ...$100 X 5%...no matter what I actually paid for the note. But I only paid $80 for it, so really I'm getting 6.25% instead of the 5% face rate. $5 divided by the $80 I paid. That's the actual market yield.

If you're not trading government debt, that might not mean much. But here's the rub. Those market yields on US debt are tied to interest rates on consumer loans. Yields on 5 and 10 year US notes are usually the benchmark banks and other lenders use to rate car loans, mortgages, student loans, etc. If US debt yields rise, so does the interest on a new car loan. Or a new house.

In short, Donnie shouldn't worry about Jerome Powell and the Fed right now. He's single handedly jacked up interest rates for every American. Good job, Donnie, you fucking idiot!

[IronLionZion]

30. It makes our national debt more expensive because Treasury has to pay higher yields

to convince anyone to buy it.

[no_hypocrisy]

35. We're barely able to pay INTEREST on the Debt right now.

Guess Trump will return to pressuring the Fed to lower interest rates so we can continue to pay the Interest on the Debt.

[ancianita]

6. This is just the beginning of the end for the good faith and credit of the US that the felon has killed.

Europeans hold a massive amount of U.S. debt, with estimates for total U.S. assets, around $8 trillion recently, while specific U.S. Treasury holdings by European nations and EU members are often cited in the range of $1.5 trillion to over $3 trillion, with the UK being a significant individual holder, making them a major creditor to the U.S. government. These figures highlight Europe's substantial financial leverage over the U.S.

Remember the economics professor at Wharton who said trump was the absolute stupidest human being to ever cross his path?

[IronLionZion]

8. Supposedly that's what got him to back off the tariffs last April

I doubt it's going to work this time. As if he has any brain cells left. Dude knows he's not going to be around for the consequences. Orrex has a daily thread on how this ends.

[ancianita]

11. heh heh...probably... Wondering if you have a link to Orrex?

[IronLionZion]

22. Every day here on DU

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220952324

[ancianita]

23. Ah, yes! Thanks.

[33taw]

14. If Denmark, Germany and France stop exporting insulin were screwed.

[paleotn]

17. But...but...but....I didn't think we were reliant on Europe for anything!!!

Says the average Trump voter.

Yeah, ask computer chip makers about The Netherlands.

ASML Holding N.V has the entire computing world by the short hairs.

[Aussie105]

25. You'd be surprised.

Just one item, pharmaceutical products from Europe, $113.32B in 2024.

[SCantiGOP]

21. Not true

Eli Lilly is one of the largest manufacturer in the world, and is a US company. The foreign companies have large insulin plants in the US. Plus, you could bring new plants in line quickly.
My daughter is both a Troy 1 diabetic and a Diabetes Nurse, so I’m pretty familiar wi the subject.

[33taw]

32. You may be correct, but that is not what I am finding. Yes,Eli Lilly is a US company.

But most production of insulin is outside of the US.

[DoBW]

16. Reuters link

https://www.reuters.com/business/danish-pension-fund-divest-its-us-treasuries-2026-01-20/

[roamer65]

18. It will force the Federal Reserve to engage in significant QE at the long end of the yield curve.

They will have to buy massive amounts of 10, 20 and 30 year Treasuries to keep the yields low.

It’s called yield curve control.

Whether we have an inflation spike will depend on the velocity of the money created via QE.

[purr-rat beauty]

19. The bigger the depression...

...the bigger their fall

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

20. Central banks are buying metals. Not a good sign for the US economy.

Last edited Tue Jan 20, 2026, 11:15 PM - Edit history (1)

The gold market rise appears too be only partially fed by individual and institutional investors. It's not just folks dumping crypto. Central banks have been liquidating gold and other metal assets for years, until now.

Trump's threats to the Fed have unnerved folks across the world, and fed the BRICS dream of replacing the dollar as the world's go-to currency. One of the European Central Bank's VPs, Luis de Guindos, issued a statement of confidence in the Fed yesterday.(1) Reminds me of the losing head coach who gets a statement of full confidence from the ownership, days before getting fired. The US economy floats on a sea of debt (and the interest paid on it), underwritten by treasury securities. They've been the world's safe harbor for years. China is the largest holder of them. Much, perhaps most, of the US debt is held abroad.

Should the world abandon the dollar and another vehicle for investment replace US treasuries, the US economy is finished. Agricultural and weapons exports won't maintain our lifestyles. This is the world Trump and his finance bros have been working for, as they think they'll be immune. Trump's lowborn fascists (see the Birchers, KKK and US Nazis) have been forming conspiracy theories about the Fed since before Trump was born without thinking consequences, so that's not new. It's that lots of very wealthy finance bros seem to buy into them. Perhaps they will.

If it does happen, we lowborn folks will likely be reduced to abject poverty and servitude, assuming we can find a master to serve. It's not a sure thing yet, and it isn't going to happen overnight, but it's important to be aware of the trend. If you're interested keep your eyes on how the sales of treasuries go in 2026-7, and watch the interest rates. It's also interesting to follow the price of gold and silver every week or so.

Oh yeah, in related news, China posted a trade surplus of $1.2 trillion in 2025.(2) Hmm.

===================================
(1) https://www.politico.eu/article/ecb-vice-president-luis-de-guindos-we-still-trust-the-fed/
(2) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-trade-ends-2025-with-record-trillion-dollar-surplus-despite-trump-tariffs-2026-01-14/

[BaronChocula]

33. I think Japan surpassed China

as the biggest holder of treasuries. But I have no idea how that changes the game.

[Aussie105]

24. Quite a lot of trade happens.

https://tradingeconomics.com/european-union/exports/united-states

Dump treasury bonds, cut trade, and the US is in deep smelly stuff.

Trump would need to be inventive to make the numbers look good.

[Buddyzbuddy]

26. Yes. Yes, he's an idiot. Wharton must be so proud.

[Attilatheblond]

27. Gonna be a whomping big distraction from Jack Smith's little chat to the public.

Somebody is gettin mighty panicked. Hope he doesn't destroy the world in his next diversion attempt.

[Bluetus]

28. $100M is meaningless other than symbolism

There is about $30 T of US debt outstanding, and Europe holds about $10 T of that. But there is no way all of that $10 T will be called, or is even callable.

[Martin Eden]

36. If that becomes an avalanche, we are SCREWED

Our economy has been sustained despite our enormous national debt by the security of US Treasury bonds and the status of the Dollar as world currency.

If THAT collapses, so does our economy.

This won't be one of those cyclical recessions; it will be more like the Great Depression.