McDowell Speaks With Marketplace About Europeans Selling Off US Treasurys

January 27, 2026

Marketplace

Daniel McDowell

Political Science Department

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs

Economic Policy

Europe

Government

International Affairs

National Security

United States

Marketplace

Daniel McDowell

At the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, President Trump said he doesn't want to use force to acquire Greenland, but Europe has been considering retaliatory measures including selling off the $8 trillion in U.S. Treasurys held by European central banks and private investors.

Experts say such a mass sell-off would be difficult to execute since most assets are privately held, would harm Europe's own economy and global financial stability, and there's no alternative market capable of absorbing that capital. While an official Treasury dump appears unlikely, experts suggest there may be a gradual, organic diversification away from U.S. debt that was already underway.

“It would not be in Europe’s own economic interest to do something like this,” says Daniel McDowell, Maxwell Advisory Board Professor of International Affairs.

“Any mass sale of Treasurys like that would likely cause severe disruptions that not only impact the U.S., it would also impact European banks and the entire global economy,” McDowell says.

Read more in the Marketplace article, “Europeans have trillions of dollars worth of leverage on the U.S. economy. They're not likely to use it.”