Stephen Carroll

When news of the letter came as European leaders reacted with outrage to Trump's threat to impose tariffs on countries that oppose his desire to own Greenland, UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer blasted the tariff threat as completely wrong.

France's president called it unacceptable and Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersen said his country wouldn't be blackmailed.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant says that Europe is too weak to ensure the Arctic Territory's security.

Scott Besson's comments on NBC's Meet the Press came as European leaders forcefully pushed back against Trump's comments.

An escalation of transatlantic tensions could risk a major market fallout, according to Deutsche Bank.

Their global head of FX research, George Saravellos, notes that Europe is America's largest lender, with its countries owning $8 trillion of US bonds and equities.

Emily Benson, head of strategy at Minerva Technology Futures, says the EU's response could prove challenging for the United States.

Minerva Technologies' Emily Benson speaking there.

Global stocks have been falling on the news and the dollar weakened against most of its major peers.

Meanwhile, we have seen demand for haven assets push gold and silver to new record highs.

And in Spain, at least 39 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a high-speed rail crash.

The crash occurred between Madrid and the coastal city of Malaga after a train derailed and jumped the track.

Speaking as details of the crash emerged, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offered this message of condolence.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaking via translator as the country's transport minister said that all survivors have been recovered.

And those are our top stories on the programme.

On the markets, the Stock 600 down 1%, the CAC Aeron to Paris 1.3% lower, the DAX in Frankfurt 1.1% lower as markets continue to react.

To those latest tariff threats, we are seeing the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index a tenth of one percent weaker this morning.

The euro is up by two tenths at 116.26.

U.S.

markets closed for a holiday, but futures and equities nine tenths lower for S&P.