Economist cover depicts Trump riding polar bear, warns allies to prepare for isolation

The Economist magazine has warned that US allies must prepare for potential isolation in a world where NATO may no longer exist, illustrating its latest cover with an image of a shirtless President Donald Trump riding a polar bear.

The cover followed Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he struck a conciliatory tone by ruling out tariffs on Europe and military action against Greenland. However, the magazine’s social media post stated the Greenland “crisis holds lessons for all countries.”

Gregg Carlstrom, the magazine's Middle East correspondent, wrote on X that “America's alliances cannot survive continual bouts of arm-wrestling brought about by a president who thinks allies have no value.”

The cover image, reminiscent of a viral meme depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin riding a bear, comes amid Trump's renewed push for the US to acquire Greenland. On Tuesday, he posted an AI-generated image on Truth Social showing him planting a US flag on the island with a sign reading “Greenland US - territory est.2026.”