President Donald Trump speaks during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21.Markus Schreiber/The Associated Press
U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a 70-minute speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday. He used his time in front of world leaders to take jabs at his counterparts, including Prime Minister Mark Carney and European leaders, reassert his desire to “get Greenland” and boast about U.S. efforts in Venezuela. The annual meeting gathers leaders from government, business and academia to engage in discussions about global issues and reach consensus on priorities.
Here are some of the outlandish claims Mr. Trump made.
‘Canada lives because of the United States’
Mr. Trump called out Mr. Carney by name after the Canadian leader had warned Tuesday that the Washington-led rules-based international order is over.
Mr. Trump also said one reason he wants Greenland is to build his proposed Golden Dome missile defence system, which Canada is hoping to join. The President confirmed that the dome was “going to be defending Canada,” before laying into Mr. Carney.
“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful, also, but they’re not. I watched your Prime Minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful,” Mr. Trump told the packed hall. “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, next time you make your statements.”
U.S. President Donald Trump takes aim at Prime Minister Mark Carney in a speech at Davos, saying ‘Canada lives because of the United States,’ a day after Mr. Carney warned the forum that a U.S.-led rules-based international order is over.
Ruling out taking Greenland by force
Mr. Trump insisted he wants to “get Greenland, including right, title and ownership,” but he said he wouldn’t employ force to achieve that.
“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won’t do that,” Mr. Trump said. “That’s probably the biggest statement I made, because people thought I would use force. But I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
He urged NATO to allow the U.S. to take Greenland from Denmark and added an extraordinary warning, saying alliance members can say yes “and we’ll be very appreciative. Or you can say, ‘No,’ and we will remember.”
“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America,” the President said. “That’s our territory.”
U.S. President Donald Trump ruled out the use of force in his bid to control Greenland on Wednesday, but said in a speech in Davos that no other country can secure the Danish territory.
Reuters
Mistaking Greenland for Iceland
Mr. Trump confused the sovereign nation of Iceland with Greenland multiple times during his address. He acknowledged Tuesday’s stock market plunge upon the transatlantic tensions triggered by his threats for Greenland – but mentioned “Iceland” instead.
“They’re not there for us on Iceland, that I can tell you,” the President said of NATO. “I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland, so Iceland’s already cost us a lot of money.”
Mr. Trump is, of course, looking to acquire Greenland, a territory of Denmark which lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, and not Iceland, an independent nation located southwest of Greenland and much smaller in size.
On Venezuela’s future after Maduro’s ouster
Mr. Trump addressed the U.S. mission to capture deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in his speech, saying the U.S. is getting co-operation from the country’s new leaders who have been “very smart” after Mr. Maduro’s ouster.
“Venezuela is going to do fantastically well. We appreciate all of the co-operation we’ve been giving. We’ve been given great co-operation. Once the attack ended, the attack ended, and they said, ‘Let’s make a deal.’ More people should do that.”
Mr. Trump also said the Venezuelan oil industry will do well with U.S. help and predicted good times for the South American country’s economy.
“Every major oil company is coming in with us,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s amazing.”
Leading oil executives, such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, have not committed to re-enter Venezuela at meetings with the U.S. President and said the country will need major reforms to attract investment.
Swipes at Europe
The U.S. President continuously went after Europe in his speech, ripping it apart over the continent’s windmills and how it was not “headed in the right direction.”
“The more windmills a country has, the more money that country loses. Every time that goes around, you lose $1,000,” said Mr. Trump. “You’re supposed to make money with energy, not lose money. Here in Europe, we see the fate that the ‘radical left’ tried to impose on America. Germany now generates 22 per cent less electricity than it did in 2017.”
Mr. Trump also said that the U.S. is booming, but Europe is “not heading in the right direction.” His ambitions to wrest control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark threaten to tear apart relations with many of Washington’s closest allies.
“I love Europe and I want to see Europe do good, but it’s not heading in the right direction.” He added, “We want strong allies, not seriously weakened ones.”
He also proclaimed that, “When America booms, the whole world booms,” and, “You all follow us down and you follow us up.”
A curveball on U.S. housing supply
Nearly an hour into his speech, Mr. Trump spoke about U.S. housing and panned some affordability policies.
Talking about the U.S. market, he said that he didn’t want to simply expand housing supply because it could lower values for people who already own homes.
“If I want to really crush the housing market, I could do that so fast,” he said. But, “I don’t want to do anything to hurt” people who have built wealth through their home equity.
He instead emphasized his desire to see lower interest rates, though that is a policy that, over time, would drive home prices up because it fuels demand.
Reducing Swiss tariffs
While speaking in Switzerland, Mr. Trump spoke about his decision to lower tariffs on imports from the country amid pressure from Swiss companies, including Rolex.
He said Switzerland makes beautiful Rolex watches but were “paying nothing to the United States” to export them. In response, he said he decided to set a levy on the country, which caused Swiss business leaders and Rolex to call him and urge him to reverse it.
“I reduced it because I don’t want to hurt people. I don’t want to hurt them. And we brought it down to a lower level; doesn’t mean it’s not going up.”
Mr. Trump agreed to slash tariffs on Swiss imports, including watches, jewellery, chocolate and more, to 15 per cent from 39 per cent last November as part of a deal that involves a promise from Switzerland to boost U.S. investment.
Mocking Macron’s sunglasses at DavosOpen this photo in gallery:
France’s President Emmanuel Macron wears sunglasses as he attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 20.Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Mr. Trump mocked French President Emmanuel Macron’s sunglasses to the audience’s laughter.
“I watched him yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?” Mr. Trump said.
The French President has worn sunglasses indoors in recent days, explaining that he has a “completely harmless” eye condition.
With files from Steven Chase, Adrian Morrow and the Associated Press.