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Trump to address Davos World Economic Forum as America's allies push back against his bid to take Greenland

What to know about Trump's trip to Davos

  • President Trump is scheduled to address the World Economic Forum, the exclusive annual gathering of world leaders, policymakers and business figures in Davos, Switzerland, amid unprecedented tension with America's closest allies over Mr. Trump's efforts to make Greenland part of the U.S.
  • Mr. Trump arrived in Switzerland Wednesday about three hours late, after Air Force One was forced to return to Joint Base Andrews late Tuesday night due to what the White House called a "minor electrical issue." He boarded a different plane and left after midnight. It was unclear whether the delay would change the timing of the president's speech, slated for 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
  • Mr. Trump has pushed European leaders to back his bid to acquire Greenland, threatening eight of America's close allies with 10% tariffs if they decline to support him. His pursuit of the island, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, has drawn a vocal, unified opposition from America's trade and military partners.
  • After the president's tariff threat, the three major U.S. stock indexes suffered their worst day since October on Tuesday, with the Dow dropping 1.8%, the S&P 500 losing 2% and the Nasdaq falling 2.4%.
  • At a news conference marking a year since the start of his second term, Mr. Trump spoke about topics including his pursuit of Greenland, the tension with NATO allies, and his "Board of Peace" in Gaza. Asked how far he's willing to go to acquire Greenland, the president replied: "You'll find out."
 

EU chief calls shift in international order "seismic" and "permanent"

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the world had seen a "seismic" and "permanent" shift in the international order. 

"We now live in a world defined by raw power, whether economic or military, technological or geopolitical," she said. "And while many of us may not like it, we must deal with the world as it is now."

Speaking to members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Von der Leyen said Europe would need to abandon its "traditional caution," as the continent found itself at a crossroads: "Europe prefers dialog 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 U.S. in its assessment that security in the Arctic region is vital, but that, "Greenland is not just a territory in a key region of the world map, and the land rich in critical raw materials, a strategic outpost on emerging global sea routes. It's all of these things, but above all, Greenland is home to a free and sovereign people. It is a nation with its sovereignty and its right to territorial attention and the future of Greenland is only for the Greenlanders to decide."

Calling Mr. Trump's threat of tariffs for "simply wrong," she warned that, "if we are now plunging into a dangerous downward spiral between allies, this would only embolden the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape."

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Bessent tells Europeans to "sit down, wait for President Trump to get here and listen"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the concerns of European leaders over Mr. Trump's insistence that Greenland be acquired by the U.S., telling them to "sit ‌down" and wait to hear what the president had to tell them later in the day. 

Bessent called French President Emmanuel Macron's criticism of the U.S. threats over Greenland "inflammatory" and said critics of Mr. Trump's plans should wait to hear from him.

"I will tell everyone: Take a deep breath. Do not have this reflexive anger that we've seen and this bitterness," Bessent told journalists. "Why don't they ‍sit ‌down, wait for President Trump to get here and listen to ‍his ⁠argument? Because I think they're going to be persuaded."

Bessent also dismissed concern over a potential wider sell-off of U.S. Treasury bonds, after a Danish pension fund said it would sell off its U.S. bonds due to "poor U.S. government finances."

"Denmark's investment in the U.S. Treasury bonds, like Denmark itself, is irrelevant," Bessent told journalists on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

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President Trump arrives in Switzerland

President Trump has arrived in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, after being delayed by a few hours due to a fault on Air Force One.

It was not immediately clear whether the delay would force a change in the timing of Mr. Trump's address to the forum, which was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

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Canada's Carney says Trump is rupturing the world order through economic coercion

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

"You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination," Carney said, making a case for "middle powers" like Canada to work together to gain leverage against "great powers," which he said have the luxury of going it alone.

"When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what's offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating," Carney said. "This is not sovereignty. It's the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination. In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice — compete with each other for favor, or to combine to create a third path with impact."

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers a speech at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 20, 2026. Harun Ozalp/Anadolu/Getty

He called other nations to join Canada to pursue shared values, supporting Ukraine, NATO, and Danish and Greenlandic sovereignty, and warned them to "stop invoking rules-based international order as though it still functions as advertised. Call it what it is — a system of intensifying great power rivalry, where the most powerful pursue their interests, using economic integration as coercion."

"The powerful have their power," Carney said. "But we have something too — the capacity to stop pretending, to name reality, to build our strength at home and to act together. That is Canada's path. We choose it openly and confidently, and it is a path wide open to any country willing to take it with us."

His remarks drew a standing ovation.

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Trump: "I should have gotten the Nobel Prize"

Mr. Trump lamented again on Tuesday that he was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end conflicts around the globe. He blamed Norway's government for the Norwegian Nobel Committee's decisions, though the country's leader has stressed that the committee makes its decisions independently.

"I should have gotten the Nobel Prize for each war, but I don't say that," Mr. 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 shots, OK? It's in Norway."

Mr. Trump cited the Peace Prize in a text message to Norway's prime minister over the weekend, suggesting that as it was awarded to someone else, he no longer felt "an obligation to think purely of Peace," as he pursues the acquisition of Greenland. Read more about that here.

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Trump on how far he's willing to go to acquire Greenland: "You'll find out"

Mr. Trump was evasive when asked how far he is willing to go to acquire Greenland.  

"You'll find out," he said. The president has repeatedly declined to rule out the threat of military force to acquire the semi-autonomous region.

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Trump says "NATO has to treat us fairly, too"

The president questioned whether other NATO members would come to the aid of the U.S. 

"The big fear I have with NATO is we spend tremendous amounts of money with NATO," Mr. Trump said. "And I know we'll come to their rescue, but I just really do question 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 U.S. in the war in Afghanistan.

Mr. Trump claimed that he has done "more for NATO than any other person alive or dead."

The president added, "NATO has to treat us fairly, too."

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Trump continues push to acquire Greenland

The president's push for Greenland is only intensifying, with Mr. Trump saying he'll impose heavy tariffs on countries that oppose his expansion plans. 

The president hasn't ruled out the use of military force to acquire the semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, and NATO allies are on edge, with some deploying military forces to Greenland for exercises that they say are meant to show their commitment to strengthening collective security. 

On Tuesday, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Mr. Trump's threat to levy tariffs on NATO allies over their stance on Greenland a "mistake" that risks sending U.S. and European relations into a "downward spiral." 

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

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At Davos, Macron warns "imperial ambitions are resurfacing"

French President Emmanuel Macron joked in remarks at Davos Tuesday that it's been a "time of peace, stability and predictablilty." 

Though the French president did not mention Mr. Trump by name, he did say that last year had seen dozens of wars, and quipped, "I hear some of them have been settled" — likely a reference to Mr. Trump's frequent claim of having ended eight wars last year.

But Macron also adopted a darker tone, saying that there has been a "shift toward autocracy" and lamenting that "conflict has become normalized."

He warned, "It's as well a shift towards a world without rules, where international law is trampled underfoot, and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest, and imperial ambitions are resurfacing."

 

Trump travels to Davos amid tension with allies

Before President Trump's arrival in Davos, European leaders have been expressing strong opposition to Mr. Trump's attempts to obtain Greenland, and the president has been berating some of the European leaders he'll see there.

He called the U.K.'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 that the U.S. must control Greenland. 

He also posted a note from French President Emmanuel Macron that said, "I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland." 

 

Trump's travels delayed by trouble with Air Force One

Shortly after taking off for Davos 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 turn back out of an abundance of caution.

President Trump switched to another aircraft and departed again shortly  after midnight.

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