The domestic politics of Trump’s foreign policy: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we look at Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Minneapolis, while Jonathan Allen dives into the domestic politics of Trump’s Greenland climb-down.

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.

— Scott Bland

Vance says Minneapolis will be ‘less chaotic’ if local officials cooperate more with ICE

By Allan Smith and Henry J. Gomez

Vice President JD Vance conceded Thursday that federal law enforcement officers haven’t been perfect in their handling of immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. But in a visit to the city, Vance’s main message was that the best way to reduce clashes around Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations would be for Democrats to cooperate with the Trump administration’s agenda.

“Look, I don’t need Tim Walz or Jacob Frey or anybody else to come out and say that they agree with JD Vance or Donald Trump on immigration,” Vance said, referring to the Democratic governor and mayor of Minneapolis. “I just don’t need that. What I do need them to do is empower their local officials to help our federal officials out in a way where this can be a little bit less chaotic and it can be a little bit more targeted.”

Vance spoke to the media after a roundtable discussion in Minneapolis with business leaders and law enforcement officials.

Tensions peaked this month after a federal officer fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, 37, during a confrontation on Jan. 7. President Donald Trump, Vance and other administration officials have, without offering conclusive evidence, said that Good was connected to left-wing protesters and a threat to officers as they approached her car and she began to drive.

Earlier Thursday, at an event in Toledo, Ohio, Vance also conveyed his message that the Trump administration needs more cooperation from Democrats in Minnesota if people want fewer confrontations. Responding to a question from NBC News, Vance agreed with recent comments by Trump that ICE officers will “make some mistakes sometimes.”

“My thought on that is, well, of course there have been mistakes made, because you’re always going to have mistakes made in law enforcement,” Vance said, adding that “99% of our police officers, probably more than that, are doing everything right.”

Speaking in Minneapolis that afternoon, Vance similarly acknowledged there are “occasionally videos out there that suggest that these guys, or at least some of the people who work for them, are not doing everything right.”

He added, however, that he sympathized with the federal officers who “are under an incredible amount of stress” and facing harassment because of “a very few far-left agitators.”

Read more →

The domestic politics of Trump’s foreign adventures

Analysis by Jonathan Allen

President Donald Trump left the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday afternoon without having acquired Greenland.

Instead, he now has what he called a “framework for a future deal” that will allow America “total access” to the massive island in the North Atlantic — which, for the purposes of national defense, the U.S. already has. The technical term for such a conceptual agreement is “fig leaf.”

Trump dropped his threat to invade Greenland and likewise retracted his promise to impose tariffs on European countries that supported Denmark’s right to keep its property.

For all the commotion, it appears that nothing really changed — except, perhaps, Trump’s priorities.

For much of the first year of his presidency, Trump focused on foreign policy. Among the topics that seized his attention: striving to end Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, trying to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, slashing the U.S. foreign aid budget, taking over Venezuela and, most recently, working to Make America Greenland’s Administrator.

But if the Greenland adventure proved anything, it’s that all of Trump’s plans at home and abroad depend on his domestic politics. Everything starts and ends with the simple fact that most Americans are not satisfied with the state of the economy, highlighted by the corollary that Trump’s iron grip on Congress is at risk as long as voters feel pinched.

More than anyone, he helped himself by abandoning his pursuit of Greenland. Imagine the president asking Congress for $700 billion — equivalent to about $2,000 per person in the U.S. — to buy an island some lawmakers couldn’t find on a map. Or, worse yet for him, Congress agreeing to open up the nation’s coffers. Even some in MAGA world weren’t thrilled with the idea of the president launching a second foreign takeover bid within a couple of months.

But the real tell was on tariffs. Trump’s threat to punish mutual allies for defending Denmark, predictably, met with negative responses from European leaders — and, more important for Trump, markets. Bond yields spiked and the major stock market indexes fell, signaling potential chaos if a trade war between the U.S. and Europe heated up.

Robust stock markets are one of the key measures Trump has used to combat the perception that he presides over a troubled economy. Any significant or prolonged downturn could further harm Republicans’ standing with voters headed into the midterms. Trump could not afford that risk in the name of tough-sounding tariffs that ultimately had no chance of forcing Denmark to give up Greenland.

But most importantly, the new tariffs would have raised prices for American consumers at a time when Trump is trying to demonstrate that he is making life more affordable for voters.

It’s those voters — and their concerns about the economy — that Trump will need to focus on from now until November. Perhaps his decision to walk away from Greenland is a sign that he understands that. His staff certainly does.

On the way to Davos, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told reporters that the president will travel less internationally in the coming months, as he barnstorms his own country to help Republican candidates in November’s midterms.

🗞️ Today’s other top stories

🌳 The grass is always greener: The president sought a deal in Davos to give America more control over security of Greenland, as some of his close advisers have sought to persuade him against using military force to take it. Read more →
🚪 New rules for ICE revealed: An internal ICE document from May shows the agency said its agents and officers can forcibly enter homes of people subject to deportation without warrants signed by judges. Read more →
📣 Jack Smith testifies before Congress: The former special counsel testified publicly for the first time about his investigations into Donald Trump, saying the president engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn his 2020 election loss. Read more →
🩺 Health hearings: The CEOs of major health insurance companies testified in back-to-back hearings about rising health care costs. Read more →
📺 “Equal time”: The Federal Communications Commission said late-night and daytime talk shows must offer equal time to candidates from opposing parties. Read more →
🗽 New York state of mind: A New York judge ruled that the only GOP-held district in New York City is unconstitutional, ordering a new map. The decision is likely to be appealed. Read more →
📲 Barron Trump calls 999: The president’s son Barron called London police last year to ask them to intervene in the alleged assault of a woman he knew overseas, a court transcript revealed. Read more →
📉 New data: The latest New York Times/Siena poll finds the president’s approval rating underwater on many foreign and domestic issues, and Democrats with a 5-point edge on the generic ballot. Also on Thursday, the president announced he was “calling [the poll]” out in a lawsuit he already filed against the Times. Read more →