Trump is "stirring up trouble" everywhere, and European tycoons are beginning to "flee" U.S. assets.

From the Greenland sovereignty dispute to tariff threats, Trump's unpredictability is prompting some European tycoons to consider reducing their exposure to U.S. assets and increasing geographical diversification in their investments.

According to Bloomberg, private bankers and advisors revealed that, following Trump’s remarks on the Greenland issue and recent geopolitical shocks in places like Venezuela and Iran, some members of Europe’s wealthy elite have begun reassessing the exposure of their investment portfolios to the United States.

However, the sheer scale and size of the U.S., as the world's largest economy, makes a full exit from U.S. investments extremely difficult.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Fox Business Channel at Davos on Thursday, Trump warned that if European countries sell off U.S. assets due to his tariff threats related to Greenland, there would be “major retaliation.”

European Funds Have Begun Seeking Diversified Allocations

A Danish pension fund has already started withdrawing from U.S. Treasury investments, partly because of Trump’s comments on Greenland.

“Overall, what you are seeing is funds diversifying away from the United States,” said Ray Dalio, billionaire founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, in a Bloomberg interview with Francine Lacqua at Davos on Thursday.

Before Trump reached a breakthrough in negotiations over Greenland on Wednesday night, Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild stated in a separate research report that it was considering tactical adjustments to its current overweight position in U.S. equities, depending on the policy outcome regarding Greenland.

David Kuenzi, Director of International Wealth Management at Creative Planning—a firm operating in the U.S. and Switzerland focusing on international family wealth management—said, “Many clients are understandably very anxious. European clients especially, as they worry about potentially being the next broad target of the president’s retaliation.”

European Tycoons Have Large Investments in the U.S.

Historically, the close ties between Europe and the U.S. have made it especially easy for global elites to invest across the Atlantic, achieving wealth diversification.

Zara founder Amancio Ortega of Spain leases property in Seattle to companies like Amazon and owns the historic Haughwout Building in Manhattan as well as one of the tallest office buildings in Miami.

The French Wertheimer family manages wealth from an office on New York’s “Billionaires’ Row,” including investments in the U.S. cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty Inc.

During the pandemic, Britain’s Richard Branson sold over $1 billion worth of shares in U.S. space tourism company Virgin Galactic to shore up his business empire.

Meanwhile, in the last two decades, a group of U.S. billionaires including Dan Friedkin, Josh Harris, and Todd Boehly have acquired sports teams across Europe.

Before entering the presidency, Trump himself acquired golf resorts in Ireland and Scotland; last year, he opened a new course in Aberdeenshire named after his mother.

Difficult for Funds to Fully Exit the U.S.

Although European tycoons and regional institutional investors are reassessing their holdings in the U.S., the scale and size of the world’s largest economy make it extremely difficult to fully avoid investments in the country.

UBS Group CEO Sergio Ermotti warned that weaponizing U.S. Treasuries is a “dangerous gamble.”

In his Fox Business Channel interview at Davos on Thursday, Trump mentioned that if European countries sell off U.S. assets due to his tariff threats related to Greenland, he would take “major retaliatory” action. He added, “We hold all the cards,” but did not specify what actions the U.S. might take.

This means that even if some European funds choose to retreat for now, their strategy is more likely to involve reducing concentration and hedging tail risks rather than large-scale withdrawal.

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