Zero Hedge

Denmark Skips Davos Forum In Protest Over Deepening Greenland Crisis

Denmark Skips Davos Forum In Protest Over Deepening Greenland Crisis

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos for 2026 is scheduled for this week (Jan. 19-23), focusing on the theme "A Spirit of Dialogue". Day one, which has kicked off Monday, isn't much of a display of "dialogue" as some key officials are absent, amid Europe's ongoing spat with President Trump over the future fate of Greenland.

Among a record number of 400 top political leaders, including over 60 heads of state and government - as well as hundreds of CEO's - conspicuously absent are officials from Denmark, who have decided not to attend this year in protest over the Greenland crisis.

Source: 2weforum.org

"We can confirm that the Danish government will not be represented in Davos this week... Danish government representatives were invited this year, and any decisions on attendance are a matter for the government concerned," the official statement said.

Trump has repeatedly declared that Greenland should become part of the United States, calling it a matter of national security as China and Russia make inroads in the Arctic region, and also questioning Denmark's right to oversee the autonomous resource-rich territory.

Over the weekend Trump took things well past just rhetoric, threatening on Saturday to slap a 10% additional tariff on EU countries, starting on Feb 1, unless there's a deal for America to purchase Greenland.

Eight nations have responded by issuing a firm joint statement saying they stand behind Denmark and the people of Greenland, writing, "Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral."

These eight include Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland - all which also happen to be NATO members.

Europeans have warned that the Greenland issue threatens to unravel the north Atlantic military alliance, especially if Washington were to unilaterally move on Greenland. And more:

  • DENMARK FOREIGN MINISTER: YOU CAN'T THREATEN YOUR WAY TO OWNERSHIP OF GREENLAND
  • DENMARK FOREIGN MINISTER: IT'S EUROPE THAT WILL RESPOND TO THE TARIFF THREAT, NOT DENMARK

Denmark and a handful of European countries have sent a troop contingency there, while at the same time the White House hasn't appeared to actually send in military forces. NBC newly reports that Trump hasn't said whether he would use force or not to seize Greenland:

As tensions escalate over President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, he was guarded Monday in how far he’ll go to take control of the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Asked if he would use force to seize Greenland, the president said, “No comment,” in a brief telephone interview with NBC News.

Previously US officials have said that given Greenland doesn't have a standing army, or much other defense to speak of, the US wouldn't have to move on it militarily.

There's still an idea floating around D.C. that the US could just purchase it, and that every Greenlander could receive millions of dollars, and reject Denmark's historic claims on it.

As for Davos, while Denmark will be absent in protest, Kremlin officials will be there. There are plans for Russian officials to meet with US envoys, at a moment Ukraine peace talks have largely stalled.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 14:15

Don Lemon Faces KKK Act Charges On MLK Holiday

Don Lemon Faces KKK Act Charges On MLK Holiday

Update (1408ET):

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that former CNN host Don Lemon has been put "on notice" by the Justice Department and could face charges under federal civil-rights laws, including the Ku Klux Klan Act, for his role in storming a church service in Minnesota. Lemon allegedly joined a far-left mob that was on the hunt for a pro-ICE pastor at a St. Paul church. 

"The Klan Act is one of the most important federal civil rights statutes. Its a law that makes it illegal to terrorize and violate the civil rights of citizens. Whenever people conspire to do this, the Klan Act can be used," Dhillon told Johnson. 

Dhillon continued, "Everyone in the protest community needs to know that the fullest force of the federal government is going to come down and prevent this from happening and put people away for a long time."

"There is zero tolerance for this kind of illegal behavior and we will not stand for it," she emphasized. 

Johnson wrote on X, "DOJ confirms Don Lemon has zero 'journalism' protections against FACE Act violations. Lemon was fully aware of the violations and may face KKK Act conspiracy charges."

Lemon faces being charged with the KKK Act on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

*   *   * 

Washed-up former CNN host Don Lemon has been put on notice by the U.S. Department of Justice over claims that he joined a far-left group of anti-ICE protesters who stormed a Sunday church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.

"A house of worship is not a public forum for your protest! It is a space protected from exactly such acts by federal criminal and civil laws! Nor does the First Amendment protect your pseudo journalism of disrupting a prayer service," Harmeet Dhillon, the DoJ's assistant attorney general for civil rights, wrote on X.

"You [Lemon] are on notice!" Dhillon wrote. In a separate post, she said that the FBI has been "activated" and accused the left-wing mob of "desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers."

She also said, "The DoJ's Civil Rights division is investigating the potential violations of the federal FACE Act by these people desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers."

Dozens of left-wing activists, some potentially paid agitators and others who admitted they were from out of town, stormed the Cities Church sanctuary on Sunday after believing that one of the pastors was the acting director of ICE's St. Paul field office.

Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote: "I just spoke to the pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted. Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law. If state leaders refuse to act responsibly to prevent lawlessness, this Department of Justice will remain mobilized to prosecute federal crimes and ensure that the rule of law prevails."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned: "President Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship."

Baptist minister Paul Chappell condemned Lemon and the left-wing activists:

We condemn the actions of Don Lemon and the group of activists who stormed Cities Church today in St. Paul, Minnesota, in clear violation of the FACE Act. Christians everywhere should demand that the Department of Justice arrest those who participated. We must protect religious liberty in this country.

Left-wing violence in Democrat-run blue cities in America is absolutely alarming. The president last week threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to restore order in Minneapolis after dark-money funded nonprofits and militant left-wing groups mounted pressure campaigns to impede federal deportation operations of criminal illegal aliens.

Meanwhile, left-wing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has demanded the troops "get the f*** out of Minneapolis." The mayor did admit in a television interview about a network of nonprofits operating a pressure campaign against the federal government.

Trump has sent 3,000 ICE agents to the sanctuary city, with 1,500 troops on standby if social unrest worsens.

What's important to understand is that if temperatures hadn't been averaging around 10F, the Democratic Party and its billionaire-funded NGO network would have unleashed riots and chaos if temperatures had been just a bit warmer. This is a warning that Democrats are preparing to unleash chaos come spring, whether protests, riots, and whatever else, as we've warned - this is part of a color-revolution operation. This is highly organized and structured.

Related:

Why a left-wing mob and a former CNN host are roaming a sanctuary city hunting for a church pastor sounds like something that would only happen under Marxist regimes in third-world countries.

Lemon, in damage control mode, calls everything that happened "fake news" ... 

Let's not forget that even the deep state publication The Atlantic had to admit an uncomfortable truth for Democrats: "Left-Wing Terrorism Is on the Rise."

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 14:08

Nobel Foundation Says Prize Can't Be Passed On To Others After Trump–Machado Meeting

Nobel Foundation Says Prize Can't Be Passed On To Others After Trump–Machado Meeting

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Nobel Foundation said Sunday reiterated its prestigious Nobel Peace Prize cannot be passed on to another person after a Venezuelan opposition leader gifted the prize that she won to President Donald Trump last week.

President Donald Trump meets with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in the Oval Office, during which she presented the President with her Nobel Peace Prize, on Jan. 15, 2026. Daniel Torok/The White House/Handout via Reuters

During a meeting at the White House on Jan. 15, the leader, Maria Corina Machado, gave her Peace Prize medal to Trump, which the president accepted.

However, the Nobel Foundation weighed in on the matter on Sunday, asserting that the prize can’t be transferred.

“One of the core missions of the Nobel Foundation is to safeguard the dignity of the Nobel Prizes and their administration. The Foundation upholds Alfred Nobel’s will and its stipulations,” it said in a statement, referring to the Swedish chemist and inventor of dynamite who started the foundation in the late 19th century.

The will of Nobel had said that the prizes should be given to people who “have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind,” the statement said, adding that his will also “specifies who has the right to award each respective prize.”

“A prize can therefore not, even symbolically, be passed on or further distributed,” the foundation said.

After the prize was awarded to Machado last year, she said she would give it to Trump. She also backed the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, although Trump has said that he would not support installing Machado as the leader of Venezuela and instead suggested that Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, be in charge of the country.

In a social media post on Jan. 15, Trump wrote that “Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you Maria!”

Machado last week said the gift was in recognition of what she called his commitment to the freedom of the Venezuelan people. The White House later posted a photo of Trump and Machado with the president holding up a large, gold-colored frame displaying the medal.

Text of the statement that she wrote said: “To President Donald J. Trump In Gratitude for Your Extraordinary Leadership in Promoting Peace through Strength.” She labeled the gesture as a “Personal Symbol of Gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan People.”

Trump had openly campaigned for the prize before Machado was awarded it, saying that he was snubbed after having ended wars around the world, including in the Middle East, and is seeking to end more armed conflicts.

Asked on Wednesday if he wanted Machado to give him the prize, Trump told the Reuters news agency: “No, I didn’t say that. She won the Nobel Peace Prize.”

In October 2025, Trump said that Machado had called him, telling him she was “accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it.“

After his capture, Maduro and his wife appeared in a federal courtroom in New York and pleaded not guilty to a range of charges, including drug trafficking. The Trump administration said that he was heavily involved in the smuggling of narcotics, namely cocaine, sourced from neighboring Colombia to other countries, including the United States.

The U.S. military under the Trump administration, meanwhile, has seized roughly a half-dozen oil tankers that officials say were trying to evade U.S. sanctions, including a vessel that was flying a Russian flag.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 13:50

Nigerian King Must Pay $72k Restitution For Defrauding NC Medicaid During Pandemic

Nigerian King Must Pay $72k Restitution For Defrauding NC Medicaid During Pandemic

Authored by Stephen Horn via The Triangle Trumpet,

Ekelekamchukwu Alphonsus Ngwadom, 61, received a suspended sentence requiring three years probation and $72,014.66 in restitution after pleading guilty to twenty-seven felonies in regards to hundreds of Medicaid claims for children’s therapy he fraudulently filed in 2020 and 2021 at his Raleigh practice, Almarch Counseling. (¹, ², ³)

Mugshot: Ekelekamchukwu Alphonsus Ngwadom

It was during this same period that Ngwadom was crowned King or “Eze” of the Mbubu-Amiri kingdom in Nigeria’s Imo State, according to a local news source which also identified him as the Chairman of African Diaspora Coalition of North Carolina and Professor of Psychology and Sociology at the University of Mount Olive. (There are many such “traditional rulers“ recognized by and holding limited power under the Federal Republic of Nigeria).

Ngwadom is listed as the Director of Partnerships and Development for Nigerian Mental Health Practitioners USA and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Nigeria-American Institute for Mental Health.

Records show Ngwadom resides at a Garner address and has voted in Johnston County since 2008.

Investigation and prosecution

According to a search warrant obtained by the Medicaid Investigation Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice, Ngwadom’s practice was flagged by Alliance Health, the manager of the NC Medicaid plan for counties including Wake, Johnston, and Durham.

Ngwadom’s fraud was revealed when a legitimate claim for therapy was submitted for one of the children for which he had filed fraudulent claims, and it was discovered that the family had never received services from Ngwadom or Almarch Counseling.

In the ensuing investigation into the “overlapping services,” a total of 210 fraudulent claims were identified involving children from three families who never receiving services from Ngwadom or Almarch Counseling:

  • fifty-two claims for two minor children for a total of $3,037.28

  • one hundred and three claims for three minor children for a total of $8,476.88

  • fifty-five claims for two minor children for a total of $3,529.46

At sentencing, the state prosecutor explained that Ngwadom had met these families through an after-school program in the years prior to the pandemic, as reported by the News & Observer.

Although the search warrant was obtained and executed in 2022, the charges were not filled until January 2025.

The total amount of fraudulent claims submitted by Ngwadom totaled $72,014.66 across 27 Medicaid recipients between February 18, 2020, and March 18, 2021, according to a press release by Attorney General Jeff Jackson.

Ngwadom plead guilty to twenty-seven counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, a Class H felony, and received a sentence of 6-17 months incarceration, which was suspended with the following conditions:

  • three years probation

  • ninety days house arrest

  • surrendering professional license

  • one hundred hours community service

  • $72,014.66 in restitution

Zero stars: state inspections find repeat deficiencies at adult care facility

Outside of his counseling practice, Ngwadom’s five-bed adult residential care facility Almarch Family Care in Rocky Mount has racked up numerous statements of deficiency and penalties from the NC Division of Health Service Regulation which licenses and inspects such facilities, which assigned AFC a rating of zero out of four stars at seven out of the last eight inspections.

The NCDHSR website only lists penalties for the past 36 months, in which time AFC has racked up $35,200 in penalties, with $16,700 paid in full and the most recent $18,500 under appeal.

Sixteen statements of deficiencies are listed for the nineteen inspections since 2015, with the most recent statement consisting of eighty-four pages detailing how the facility violated at least nine rules, including by failing to have certified staff, failing to meet health care needs, failing to properly store and administer prescribed medication, and failing to implement an activity program.

AFC is located at an 1825 sq. ft. home in a residential neighborhood in east Rocky Mount; although Ngwadom’s lawyer cited his need to take out a second mortgage in order to pay the $72k restitution, Edgecombe County records show that Ngwadom and his wife Ngozichukwuka Mary Ngwadom sold the AFC property for $10 to a “Chukwuebuka Michael C Ngwadom” less than two months before his sentencing. (The property has a tax valuation of $113,866.00).

Google Streetview: the Rocky Mount residence listed as the location of Ngwadom’s deficient adult care facility Raleigh provider recruited refugees for Medicaid scam

Although perhaps not as prevalent as the recently publicized Somali scams in Minnesota, Ngwoma is not the only Nigerian to be charged with Medicaid fraud relating to “therapy” services in the Raleigh area, with a recent case matching a pattern of fraud enabled by modern immigration and welfare policy.

An investigation into the billing practices of “Our Treatment Center,” a Medicaid provider in Raleigh, resulted in the conviction of seven “mental health practitioners,” according to a June 2025 press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina, with at least three of the fraudsters appearing to have African origins:

The charging documents allege that OTC recruited “refugees” in North Carolina in order to fraudulently bill Medicaid for providing “social assistance” to the “indigent” foreigners for services not covered by the welfare program, including:

  • assistance with reading and understanding mail

  • understanding the American legal system

  • assistance with English as a second language

  • transportation to grocery stores, the Division of Motor Vehicles, and other appointments

Ondachi and Onuzulike are alleged to have helped recruit the refugees, obtaining Medicaid Identification Numbers and personally identifiable information from entire households of refugees with the promise of this “assistance with social needs.”

The scheme then involved fraudulently billing these services to Medicaid as “psychotherapy,” with Ondachi, Ezugwu, and Onuzulike each being accused of fabricating psychotherapy notes to justify billing for these non-psychotherapy services, and altering the dates/times of the services provided to meet the Medicaid coverage limitation of only one hour of psychotherapy per patient per day.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 13:27

Trump To Norway: No Nobel, No Greenland? The Letter That Has Shocked Europe

Trump To Norway: No Nobel, No Greenland? The Letter That Has Shocked Europe

As news began breaking very early Monday of President Trump's scathing letter to Norway over the country's failure to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, some pundits and journalists immediately questioned whether it is real.

But confirmation came soon after. In the letter addressed to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Trump explained that he no longer feels obligated to focus exclusively on peace, while repeating his intent for US control over Greenland. In essence he lays out that no Nobel might turn into no Greenland for Europe (as Denmark exercises control over the resource-rich autonomous territory).

The White House/Reuters

"Dear Jonas: Since your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for stopping 8 wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace, although it will always be dominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States," the US President wrote.

Such is an example of kind of over the top and trolling-style rhetoric in the letter which has given people pause, questioning its authenticity. 

"Denmark cannot protect this land from Russia or China… The world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland," he added.

As for whether Trump indeed wrote it, and concerning the bombastic letter's authenticity, Forbes has noted that "According to PBS Newshour’s Nick Schifrin, who first reported on the matter, the letter has been forwarded by the National Security Council staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington."

The President also in the letter takes the opportunity to bash Denmark, saying it cannot protect Greenland from Russia or China, and again questioned its legal rights to Greenland: "There are no written documents; it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also."

The message in full, as first reported by a PBS correspondent:

Hours later, Norway issues a full, formal response:

Statement from Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre regarding communications with President Donald Trump.

"I can confirm that this is a text message that I received yesterday afternoon from President Trump. It came in response to a short text message from me to President Trump sent earlier on the same day, on behalf of myself and the President of Finland Alexander Stubb. In our message to Trump we conveyed our opposition to his announced tariff increases against Norway, Finland and select other countries. We pointed to the need to de-escalate and proposed a telephone conversation between Trump, Stubb and myself on the same day.

The response from Trump came shortly after the message was sent. It was his decision to share his message with other NATO leaders. Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter. We also support that NATO in a responsible way is taking steps to strengthen security and stability in the Arctic. As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to president Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government."

Norway's PM Store has since explained that letter came in response to a joint message he had earlier sent to Trump together with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, rejecting White House plans to impose higher tariffs on Scandinavian countries. Other leading EU countries have also complained and are pushing back publicly:

MERZ: GERMANY, EU ALLIES DETERMINED TO AVOID TARIFF ESCALATION

"We pointed out the need to de-escalate the exchange and requested a phone call between President Trump, President Stubb and myself," Store said, and reiterated Norway's stance on Greenland is unchanged.

Tyler Durden Mon, 01/19/2026 - 13:15

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