Teasury Secretary Bessent says Denmark and its investment in the US are ‘irrelevant’
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 Akademiker Pension, the Danish pension operator, which said this week it was dumping its $100 million worth of US Treasury holdings because of “poor government finances.”
The $100 million makes up a very small portion of the $30.8 trillion US Treasury market but Denmark itself holds just under $10 billion worth of US bonds. As Bessent noted, that investment has been on the decline for several years – the country held just under $18 billion of US Treasuries as recently as 2021.
The European Union collectively owns $8 trillion of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt.
