Donald Trump Arrives at Davos: Greenland Standoff & WEF Address

Introduction: Trump due in Davos today Good morning from Davos, where Donald Trump is heading for a showdown with fellow world leaders over his designs on Greenland. The US president has top billing at the World Economic Forum today, scheduled to give a special address in the early afternoon (2.30pm Davos time, 1.30pm GMT or 8.30am EST). Up until last weekend, Trump was expected to use this speech to outline his affordability agenda, including new policies to lower housing costs. But the speech is now expected to have a much more international flavour, following Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on European countries who oppose him buying, or even seizing, Greenland. Last night, Trump claimed again that the US needs Greenland for national security purposes. When asked how far he is willing to go to acquire Greenland, he simply replied “You’ll find out.” Yesterday, European leaders were bracing for the arrival of the US president today. France’s Emmanuel Macron warned that the world is facing “a shift toward autocracy against democracy … a shift towards a world without rules where international law is trampled underfoot, where the only law seems to be the strongest and imperial ambitions are resurfacing”. Canada’s Mark Carney was even blunter, saying the “old order is not coming back” and that the world is “in the midst of a rupture, not a transition”, as great powers flex their muscles. California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, summed things up best: “There’s no diplomacy with Donald Trump: he’s a T rex. You mate with him or he devours you.” We’ll also hear from Trump ally, Argentina’s Javier Milei today, as well as Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Mohammad Mustafa, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, plus other big names from business and technology. The agenda 8am Davos / 7am GMT: Scott Bessent to hold press conference on trade matters 9am Davos /8am GMT: Session: Can Russia Sustain a Wartime Economy? 9.30am Davos / 8.30am GMT: Special Address by Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of Egypt 10.15am Davos / 9.15am GMT: Session: Can Europe Defend Itself? 11.30am Davos / 10.30am GMT: Conversation with Jensen Huang, President and CEO of NVIDIA 1pm Davos / noon GMT: Conversation with Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase 1.30pm Davos / 12.30pm GMT: Conversation with Mohammad Mustafa, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority 2.30pm Davos / 1.30pm GMT: Special Address by Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America 3.45pm Davos / 2.45pm GMT: Special Address by Javier Milei, President of Argentina