Davos, Switzerland — U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a forceful and wide-ranging speech at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, celebrating what he called a historic economic revival in the United States while sharply criticizing European energy policies, NATO allies and global migration trends.
Marking one year since his return to the White House, Trump told global CEOs, financiers and heads of state that the U.S. economy was “booming” and “leading the world.” He cited falling inflation, strong growth projections and surging stock markets, claiming that aggressive tax cuts, deregulation and tariffs had triggered unprecedented investment. Trump said U.S. markets had added more than US$9 trillion in value since his election, while crediting new nuclear, fossil fuel and AI-related industries for powering output.
Much of the speech targeted Europe’s green energy transition, which Trump described as a “hoax” that had driven up electricity prices and undermined industrial competitiveness. He highlighted U.S. plans to expand nuclear energy and permit private companies to build their own power capacity to support artificial intelligence industries.
Trump also revived longstanding grievances with NATO, arguing that U.S. military power subsidised European security while America received “nothing in return.” In a surprising twist, he called for new negotiations to purchase Greenland from Denmark, framing the Arctic island as “a core national security interest” in the emerging U.S.-Russia-China rivalry. Denmark did not immediately comment on the proposal.
On foreign policy, Trump claimed to be pursuing a settlement to end the war in Ukraine, saying he was in contact with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He described casualty levels as “staggering” and asserted the conflict “would never have started” had he been in power in 2020 — repeating disputed claims of a “rigged” election that U.S. courts and officials have rejected.
Domestically, Trump announced measures aimed at housing affordability and household debt, including a temporary cap on credit-card interest rates and a ban on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes. He also reaffirmed support for digital asset regulation, calling for the United States to become “the crypto capital of the world.”
The speech drew applause from parts of the Davos audience, while generating unease among European delegations and analysts who warned that many of Trump’s economic and geopolitical assertions would require verification in the days ahead.
