President Donald Trump gestures in the hallway after his special address during the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
US President Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Trump, who was allotted a 45-minute window to deliver his keynote address, spoke for a total of 70 minutes.
The speech, in typical Trumpian fashion, was full of self-praise and insults on his opponents, including countries, heads of state, and organisations.
Europe
Trump started his speech with some not-so-kind words towards Europe. Trump claimed that some areas of Europe are “no longer recognizable” in a “very negative way” and stated the continent is “not heading in the right direction”. He further remarked that European leaders “don’t even understand what’s happening” as their countries are allegedly “destroying themselves”.
While criticizing renewable energy policies, Trump also claimed that China sells windmills to “stupid people in Europe” to make fortunes.
Emmanuel Macron
Trump mocked French President Emmanuel Macron, who was seen wearing a pair of sunglasses during his WEF speech on Tuesday. “I watched Emmanuel Macron yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses—what the hell happened there? But I watched him sort of be tough over drug prices. I said, ‘Emmanuel, you’ve been taking advantage of the United States for 30 years with prescription drugs. You really should do it, and you will do it.'”
“I watched your Prime Minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” Trump said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin
Trump continued to insist that he can broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. According to Trump, if Zelenskyy and Putin are not stupid, they would accept his deal.
“I’m dealing with President Putin and he wants to make a deal, I believe. I’m dealing with President Zelenskyy and I think he wants to make a deal… I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together. And if they don’t, they’re stupid. That goes for both of them.”
Trump pressured the former Dutch Prime Minister and current NATO head to fall in line with his territorial ambitions in Greenland, citing Rutte’s private acknowledgments of US leadership.
“I spoke with Mark Rutte, and he knows. He’s doing a good job, but he knows we have been treated very unfairly by NATO. We are protecting Greenland, we are protecting Europe. Why should we defend it on a lease? You can’t defend it on a lease.”
Trump also called Denmark ‘ungrateful’ and mocked their historical military defence, stating they “fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting” and were “totally unable to defend” themselves or Greenland.
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President Donald Trump gestures in the hallway after his special address during the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP) 
