Trump says he won

In a brief meeting with Swiss leaders after addressing the forum, President Trump said he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, no later than Wednesday.

In his earlier comments, he mistakenly said the meeting would take place later Wednesday.

“I think we have peace in the Middle East,” Trump said when asked about his Peace Board and the current situation after the War between Israel and Hamas..

He said the United States would know in the coming weeks whether Hamas would disarm, a key criterion of the ceasefire agreement negotiated by the president’s team last year.

“If they don’t…they’ll be blown away. Very quickly,” Trump said.

The president said that if the United States had not He attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities. In June of last year no agreement would have been signed.

“They came very close to having a nuclear weapon, we hit them hard and it was total destruction. They can try again, but they have to try from a different area, because that area was destroyed,” Trump said of Iran.

“If we didn’t do it, there would be no possibility of making peace” between Israel and Hamas, he said, arguing that countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar would not have supported an agreement. “They were afraid. We had a bully. The bully was Iran.”

Trump said he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos later on Wednesday. He said he believed both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to reach a deal to end Russia’s nearly four-year large-scale war against Ukraine, and urged them to make it happen.

“I think they’re at a point now where they can come together and come to an agreement,” he said. “And if they don’t, they’re stupid. That goes for both of them. And I know they’re not stupid. But if they can’t do this, they’re stupid.”

It was unclear what plans Trump might have to meet with Zelenskyy, who was last known to be in kyiv, his own country’s capital, on Wednesday, and not in Switzerland.

When asked by Brende how he sees the U.S.-China relationship moving forward, Trump said he had “always had a very good relationship with President Xi,” calling him an “incredible man” and saying “what he’s done is amazing.”

The president mentioned the COVID-19 pandemicsaying he stopped referring to it as “the China virus” at President Xi’s request.

“He said, ‘Do you think you could use a different name?’ And I decided to do it, because why should we have a problem with that?”

Trump sat down after his speech for a question-and-answer session with the president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Norwegian diplomat Børge Brende. Brende asked Trump about the US national debt, which has surpassed $38 trillion, more than $100,000 per citizen.

Trump insisted that the United States would be “growing our way out of debt,” a strategy that has not worked for the United States in modern history, as the national debt has continued to rise. The president said the United States was cutting costs, although he has not decreased federal outlays during his presidency.

“I think the most important thing is growth and then cost reduction,” he said.

After criticizing NATO, Europe, Switzerland, Somalia and many other nations during his speech, the president congratulated the Davos audience on their “tremendous success.”

He ended his speech with applause from the police, after the audience was silent for most of his speech.

Trump claimed that U.S. attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels had “taken drugs out of the water, into the oceans and into the sea, by 97.2%.”

“The Democrats say they were fishing: ‘You’ve ruined someone’s fishing weekend.’ I would say a submarine is not a fishing boat,” the president said.

“Now we’re going to start on the ground. We’re going to take it all out. The land is the easy part,” Trump said.

The president said he planned to announce his decision on a person to replace current Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell very soon. The only clue she gave was that her choice was a man.

“I will announce a new chairman of the Federal Reserve in the not-too-distant future,” he said. “I think he’ll do a very good job. Look, I gave away some of that: ‘Him.'”

Trump said his pick was “someone who is very well respected.”

“The problem with NATO is that we will be there for them, 100%, but I’m not sure they will be there for us,” Trump said. “They are not there for us in Iceland,” the president said, appearing to confuse Iceland and Greenland again. “I can tell you that our stock market Yesterday we suffered the first fall thanks to Iceland.”

Trump said the United States had “never asked for anything else” other than Greenland.

“You can say yes and we will be very grateful, or you can say no and we will remember. A strong and secure America means a strong NATO, and that is one of the reasons I work every day to ensure that our military is very powerful, our borders are very strong and, above all, our economy is strong, because national security requires economic security and economic prosperity.”

As Trump criticized NATO, suggesting that the alliance’s other members had fallen for him, he appeared to confuse Greenland with Iceland.

“Until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me,” he said. “They called me dad, of course, the last time.”

He repeated the reference to Iceland, an independent nation that is also a member of NATO, but has no interest in Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

Last year, the NATO secretary general called Trump “dad.”

“I went from leading him to being a terrible human being,” Trump said of other NATO leaders’ perceptions.

“What I ask for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly placed, that can play a vital role in the peace and protection of the world,” he said. “It’s a very small ask, compared to what we’ve given them for many, many decades.”

Trump went on to claim that the United States needed to own Greenland and further explained his reasoning.

“Property is needed to defend it,” the president said. “You can’t defend a lease. Number one, legally it’s not defendable that way, totally. And psychologically, who the hell wants to defend a licensing agreement or a lease?”

“The only thing we want from Denmark for national and international security and to keep our energetic and dangerous potential enemies at bay is this land on which we are going to build the largest golden dome ever built,” he said, referring to his plans for a missile defense system.

Then he attacked Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.saying that the United States would use Greenland property to defend the neighboring country.

“By the way, Canada gets a lot of gifts from us. They should be grateful, but they’re not. I saw their prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t that grateful.”

“NATO treats the United States very unfairly,” Trump said. “We give a lot and receive very little in return.”

The president cited the war in Ukraine as an example of his problem with the transatlantic defense alliance that has existed for seven decades.

“We are thousands of kilometers apart, separated by a giant ocean. It is a war that should never have started,” he said.

“What does America get out of all this work, all this money, other than death, destruction and huge amounts of money going to people who don’t appreciate what we do… I’m talking about NATO and I’m talking about Europe,” Trump said.

President Trump for the first time ruled out using force to acquire Greenland. Until Wednesday, Trump and other White House officials had refused to rule out the president ordering the use of the U.S. military to acquire the vast island.

“We never asked for anything and we never received anything,” he said. “We’re probably not going to get anything unless I decide to use excessive force and force where, frankly, we would be unstoppable. But I’m not going to do that. Okay? Now everyone’s like ‘oh, good.’ That’s probably the most important statement I made because people thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force, I don’t want to use force, I won’t use force. The only thing the United States asks for is a place called Greenland.”

Trump said he was “seeking immediate negotiations” to acquire Greenland.

Trump joked about Greenland and asked the crowd if they wanted him to say a few words about the topic, drawing his first laughs from the audience.

He said he has “tremendous respect” for the people of Greenland and Denmark, but argued that each NATO ally should be able to defend its own territory, and said that “no nation or group of nations is in a position to be able to secure Greenland other than the United States.”

The president said that “our country and the world face a much greater risk than before, because of missiles, because of nuclear energy, because of weapons of war that I can’t even talk about.”

The president dismissed the idea that the United States wants Greenland for rare earth materials.

“This huge unsafe island is actually part of North America, on the northern border of the Western Hemisphere, that is our territory,” he said.

The president criticized the United Kingdom for not making better use of North Sea oil reserves.

“The North Sea is one of the largest reserves in the world, but it is not used, and that is one of the reasons why its energy has reached catastrophically low levels with equally high prices,” he said. “High prices, very low levels.”

Trump called the North Sea “incredible.”

“They don’t let anyone drill,” he said. Environmentally they won’t let them drill.”

He said the oil companies had asked him if there was anything he could do about the North Sea.

“They are sitting on one of the biggest sources of energy in the world and they don’t use it,” he said of British leaders, before spending some time attacking wind energy, which the UK has hugged aggressively in recent years.

Trump says his tariffs have allowed the United States to “radically reduce our growing trade deficit”

The president touted his administration’s trade deals with other countries, including European countries, Japan and South Korea, saying they “increase growth and cause stock markets to boom, not just in the United States, but in virtually every country that came to make a deal. Because, as you’ve learned, when America goes up, you follow.”

He said Venezuela has “problems, but we are helping them,” stating that after the US operation to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela “will be making more money than it has in a long time. Venezuela will do fantastically well.”

“The attack ended and they said, ‘let’s make a deal,'” Trump said.

The crowd of world leaders, business executives and others in Davos remained silent during the beginning of Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum, without applauding, as he described his transformation of the U.S. federal government and its relations with Europe.

Trump spoke in measured tones as he described the “miracle that was happening,” touting a long list of what he described as his administration’s economic successes.

Trump said he wanted to discuss in Davos “how we want to improve the standard of living of our citizens” and how European countries could emulate the United States, because “certain places in Europe are not even recognizable.”

“I don’t want to insult anyone and I say I don’t recognize it, and that’s not in a positive way. It’s in a very negative way. And I love Europe and I want to see Europe do well, but it’s not going in the right direction.”

Trump said many Western governments have turned their backs on “everything that makes nations rich and powerful and strong.”

“Frankly, many parts of our world are being destroyed before our very eyes, and leaders don’t even understand what’s happening, and those who do understand aren’t doing anything about it.”

The president is not expected to name a new chairman of the federal reserve while in Davos, a senior Trump administration official said.

Trump apparently has not yet decided who will be the nominee to replace Chairman Jerome Powell. On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he “supposes the president will make a decision maybe next week.”

“We’ve had substantial conversations about this,” Bessent said. “We have carried out a process that began in September: 11 very strong candidates. Now we have four candidates left. The president has met personally with all of them and it will be his decision.”

Trump has mentioned a couple of the leading candidates, whom he has referred to as “the two Kevins.” One is National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and the other is former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh.

Trump took the stage in Davos and addressed “so many friends, a few enemies,” he said.

“It’s who’s who, I’ll say it,” he said.

Trump began his speech by touting the completion of his first year in office and a “booming” economy. He looked at stock market highs, economic growth and strong 401(k) plan growth.

“People are doing very well, they are very happy with me,” he said, despite problems with approval numbers.

Trump arrived in Davos in his Marine One helicopter to attend the World Economic Forum. His flight from the United States to Zurich was delayed due to technical problems with Air Force One.

He was scheduled to give a speech at the forum at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, and it was unclear whether his delayed arrival in Switzerland might force a change in that schedule. U.S. officials said previously scheduled executive time before the speech had been canceled so he could address the international meeting directly.

As many as 25 countries have signed on to join President Trump’s “Peace Board” for Gaza, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday in Davos, although not all have said so publicly.

“I think we have more than 20, maybe 25 world leaders who have already agreed,” Witkoff said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday.

The president envisions that the group will be made up of world leaders and that he will be its president. Countries can contribute $1 billion to become permanent members or be members for three years, the White House said.

The formation of the group faces serious obstacles from US allies, which could be embarrassing for the Trump administration in Davos, where the president plans to meet with the board on Thursday.

Read more here.

“Threats to impose tariffs to pressure allies are completely wrong,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the British Parliament on Wednesday. “Britain will not compromise on our principles and values ​​over the future of Greenland under threats of tariffs.”

The British leader also called Mr. Trump’s criticism of the agreement with the United Kingdom hand over the remote Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, a U-turn intended to pressure him into accepting the president’s offer for Greenland.

“President Trump used words yesterday about Chagos that were different from his previous words…when I met him at the White House,” Starmer said. “He used those words for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain regarding my values ​​and principles regarding the future of Greenland.”

Under the agreement the United Kingdom struck with Mauritius, Britain will continue to lease the only island of Diego Garcia for 99 years, where there is a joint strategic military base between the United Kingdom and the United States.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the world had seen a “seismic” and “permanent” change in the international order.

“We now live in a world defined by pure power, whether economic or military, technological or geopolitical,” he said. “And even though many of us don’t like it, we have to deal with the world as it is now.”

Speaking to members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Von der Leyen said Europe would have to abandon its “traditional caution” as the continent stands at a crossroads: “Europe prefers dialogue and solutions, but we are fully prepared to act if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination.”

Von der Leyen said the EU was aligned with the US in its assessment that security in the Arctic region is vital, but that “Greenland is not just a territory in a key region on the world map, and a land rich in critical raw materials, a strategic outpost in emerging global sea routes. It is all these things, but above all, Greenland is the home of a free and sovereign people. It is a nation with its sovereignty and its right to the territorial care and future of “Greenland is just for the Greenlanders to decide.”

Calling Trump’s threat to impose tariffs “simply wrong,” he warned that “if we now sink into a dangerous downward spiral between allies, it would only embolden the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic picture.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed European leaders’ concerns about Trump’s insistence that the United States acquire Greenland, telling them to “sit back” and wait to hear what the president had to tell them later in the day.

Bessent called French President Emmanuel Macron’s criticism of US threats to Greenland “inflammatory” and said critics of Trump’s plans should wait to hear from him.

“I’ll tell everyone: Take a deep breath. Don’t have this reflexive anger that we’ve seen and this bitterness,” Bessent told reporters. “Why don’t you sit down, wait for President Trump to arrive, and listen to his argument? Because I think you’re going to be convinced.”

Bessent also dismissed concerns about a possible sell-off in US Treasuries, after a Danish pension fund said it would sell its US bonds due to the “poor finances of the US government”.

“Denmark’s investment in US Treasuries, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant,” Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

President Trump has arrived in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, after suffering a delay of a few hours due to a failure on Air Force One.

It was not immediately clear whether the delay would force a change in the timing of Trump’s speech at the forum, which was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET.

“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in his speech in Davos on Monday. “Great powers have begun to use economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, and supply chains as vulnerabilities that must be exploited.”

“You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of our subordination,” Carney said, advocating that “middle powers” like Canada work together to gain influence against “great powers,” which he says can afford to do it alone.

“When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemonic power, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating,” Carney said. “This is not sovereignty. It is the exercise of sovereignty while accepting subordination. In a world of great power rivalry, intermediate countries have a choice: compete with each other for favors or combine to create a third path with impact”.

He called on other nations to join Canada in pursuing shared values, supporting Ukraine, NATO, and Danish and Greenlandic sovereignty, and warned them to “stop invoking the rules-based international order as if it still works as advertised. Call it what it is: a system of escalating great power rivalry, where the most powerful pursue their interests, using economic integration as coercion.”

“The powerful have their power,” Carney said. “But we also have something: the ability to stop pretending, name reality, develop our inner strength and act together. That is Canada’s path. We choose it openly and with confidence, and it is a path open to any country that is willing to take it with us.”

His comments sparked a standing ovation.

Trump again expressed regret Tuesday about not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end conflicts around the world. He blamed the Norwegian government for the decisions of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, although the country’s leader has stressed that the committee makes its decisions independently.

“I should have gotten the Nobel Prize for every war, but I’m not saying that,” Trump said at the White House. “I saved millions and millions of people. And don’t let anyone tell you that Norway doesn’t control the shooting, okay? It’s in Norway.”

Trump cited the Peace Prize in a text message sent to Norway’s prime minister over the weekend, suggesting that since it was awarded to someone else, he no longer felt “an obligation to think only about peace.” while pursuing the acquisition of Greenland. Read more about that here.

Trump was evasive when asked how far he is willing to go to acquire Green Earth.

“You’ll find out,” he said. The president has repeatedly refused to rule out the threat of military force to acquire the semi-autonomous region.

The president questioned whether other NATO members would come to the US’ aid.

“The big fear I have with NATO is that we will spend enormous amounts of money with NATO,” Trump said. “And I know we’ll come to rescue them, but I really wonder whether or not they’ll come to ours.”

Article 5 of the NATO Charter says that an attack on one member of the alliance is treated as an attack on all. It has only been invoked once: in response to the 9/11 attacks, when European countries joined the United States in the war in Afghanistan.

Trump claimed that he has done “more for NATO than any other person living or dead.”

The president added: “NATO also has to treat us fairly.”

The president’s pressure on Greenland only intensifies, and Trump says impose heavy tariffs on countries that oppose its expansion plans.

The president has not ruled out using military force to acquire the semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, and NATO allies are nervous, with some deploying military forces to Greenland for exercises they say are intended to show their commitment to strengthening collective security.

On Tuesday, the president of the European Union Commission, Ursula von der Leyen called Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on NATO allies over their stance on Greenland is a “mistake” that risks sending US-European relations into a “downward spiral.”

Ahead of Davos, the president posted an AI-generated image showing him planting an American flag in Greenland, alongside Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

French President Emmanuel Macron joked in remarks in Davos on Tuesday that it has been a “time of peace, stability and predictability.”

Although the French president did not mention Trump by name, he did say that there were dozens of wars last year and joked, “I’ve heard that some of them have been resolved,” likely a reference to Trump’s frequent claim to have ended eight wars last year.

But Macron also took a darker tone, saying there has been a “turn towards autocracy” and lamenting that “the conflict has become normalized.”

He warned: “It is also a shift towards a world without rules, where international law is trampled and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest, and imperial ambitions are resurgent.”

Ahead of President Trump’s arrival in Davos, European leaders have expressed strong opposition to Trump’s attempts to obtain Greenland, and the president has been rebuking some of the European leaders he will see there.

He called the UK’s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius (a deal his administration previously supported) an act of “great stupidity” and said it was another reason why the United States should control Greenland.

He also posted a note from French President Emmanuel Macron saying, “I don’t understand what they are doing in Greenland.”

Shortly after taking off for Davos on Tuesday night, Air Force One turned around and returned to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland due to what the White House called “a minor electrical issue.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the flight crew made the decision to return out of an abundance of caution.

President Trump switched to another plane and took off again shortly after midnight.