Treasury Secretary Bessent says Denmark and its investment in the US are 'irrelevant'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Politics

Updated Jan 21, 2026, 9:54 AM ET
PUBLISHED Jan 21, 2026, 8:53 AM ET


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.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/21/politics/scott-bessent-denmark-us-investment

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Who knew he would manage to outdo both Paulson AND Mnuchin.

An avalanche doesn't happen all at once. It starts with small slides of snowpack before the whole area begins to collapse.

[vapor2]

1. There will be more to follow you POS

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Okay Europe pull the money.

[bluestarone]

3. Well, those are perfect words to start

A monetary crisis that could be OUT OF CONTROL!!

[Ocelot II]

4. Is Pissant actually stupid, or is he just so far up Trump's colon that his entire universe is just Trump's shit?

[durablend]

7. It's all of them

They're completely intoxicated by the aroma of their own shit that they don't understand anything else.

[gohuskies]

5. Arrogance is a hallmark trait of the treasonous tRump maladministration

The performances by Mango Mussolini and his entourage in Davos has been nothing short of appalling thuggery. The lies and naked tone of aggression is sickening to see and hear. America is a broken country spewing hate and bullying our allies in a way I never imagined possible. Lawlessness at home and abroad is the way these jerks roll. They gotta go...

[Justice matters.]

9. NATO should suspend the US out of the organization until...

sanity returns in Congress (either by impeaching and removing the Fascist clowns or a Dem POTUS is elected).

[LiberalArkie]

6. The millionaire Bessant quote American retirees homes.

“We are going to give guidance at some point to see what is a mom and pop, that someone — maybe your parents — for their retirement, [bought] about 5, 10, 12 homes,” Bessent told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“So we don’t want to push the mom and pops out,” he continued. “We just want to push everyone else out.”

Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, has an estimated net worth of $521 million, according to The Street.

Critics were quick to ridicule Bessent as out of touch.

“Good news for the forgotten man,” declared The Bulwark’s Tim Miller. “The mom and pop real estate investor who has purchased 12 homes can breathe easy, the Treasury Secretary is looking out for you.”

“These people are completely out of touch with how life is for you,” observed The Lincoln Project.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. Bessent is an idiot.

Danish pension fund says it's selling all its U.S. Treasuries

A Danish pension fund is planning to sell its entire holdings of U.S. Treasuries — about $100 million — over concerns about the U.S. government's financial stability.

AkademikerPension confirmed to CBS News that it is exiting U.S. Treasuries by the end of this month and that it will instead turn to the U.S. dollar and short-duration debt.

"The decision is rooted in the poor U.S. government finances, which make us think that we need to make an effort to find an alternative way of conducting our liquidity and risk management," Anders Schelde, chief investment officer of AkademikerPension, told CBS News in a statement.

Moody's Ratings in May downgraded the U.S. credit rating from the highest level — Aaa — to Aa1, one notch lower, citing rising government debt and heightened policy uncertainty tied to President Trump's trade policy.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/danish-pension-fund-says-selling-214206281.html

[sdfernando]

10. Well sure....One pension fund divesting US Treasuries

is not all that significant....but when you get to the 100s and 1000s dumping them, then it gets to be a little bit of a problem....so when will he get concerned?

This guy is an idiot!

[ananda]

11. Is somebody shouting to the wind...

hoping it reaches people friendly to Nazis?

[Prairie Gates]

12. That's the flop sweat talking

[OnlinePoker]

13. I'm Canadian and baffled by how much U.S. treasuries we hold.

Since January 2022, our holdings have gone from $217 billion to $472 billion, including an increase of $150 billion since Trump became president last January. I also find it interesting that since Jan 2022, China has dropped their holdings from $1.034 trillion to $684 billion. It's almost like they know something is up and are getting out of Dodge.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. For years, China was always cited

but that has changed!



(from here - https://wealthmd.net/news/which-countries-are-buying-selling-u-s-treasuries/)

[OnlinePoker]

15. Here's the most up to date. It gets updated monthly.

https://ticdata.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Documents/slt_table5.html

[BumRushDaShow]

17. +1

I cross-checked that graph has a match of the figure reported as "March 2025", but listed as "April 2025" in the table.

[PSPS]

16. The EU owns over half of all treasuries. If they sell that off, the bond markets worldwide will evaporate instantly.

Is Bessent's knowledge of how markets work the same as Bob Jr's knowledge of medicine?

[thought crime]

19. The implied threat of EU countries selling off US treasuries stopped Trump in his tracks.

The EU holds a hostage. Hopefully, a lesson was learned by all concerned.

[Torchlight]

18. World market seems to disagree with his assessment.

Hence, the U.S. dollar and treasury prices tumble while gold spikes as the world divests American assets. Hecuva job, Bessy.