Europe, according to rumors, is discussing at the highest level the possibility of selling off $2.3 trillion in US Treasury bonds to block Donald Trump's deal on Ukraine.

Europe has realized that it lacks military leverage comparable to US assistance. The only hard asset is financial control.

The EU and Britain together hold more US debt than China. Such a sell-off could raise the yield on 10-year Treasuries by 200 basis points overnight, paralyze the US mortgage market, and push up annual federal debt payments by $1.5 trillion.