Even a virtual appearance from the newly re-minted American president drew the crowds.
Five years ago Donald Trump descended on the Swiss mountain top town of Davos, choosing his jet-setting friends over his impeachment trial back home. This time he’s far too busy putting America first to attend.
Trump might not be here, but he is at the heart of almost every conversation, transfixing the corporate elite from more than 4,000 miles away. All week there have been rumours he and his sidekick Elon Musk might jet in after all. But even a virtual appearance from the newly re-minted American president drew the crowds.
He began with a boast about the last few days, claiming he’d started a “revolution of common sense”, and threatening to impose tariffs worth trillions of dollars. That was all familiar enough, but an intervention on a peace deal in Ukraine grabbed the attention of delegates as he expressed the hope that China could help the US end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump’s virtual speech had been preceded by his wing man, the Argentine president Javier Milei, who proclaimed he’d allied with the new leader of America, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to fight for freedom and liberty.
Davos delegates like to claim they’re here to try and improve the state of the world.
In 2020 Greta Thunberg was here to hold his feet to the fire.
But things have moved on. There’s no sign of Greta.
And after serving notice on the Paris climate agreement, today Trump vowed to bring down the cost of Saudi oil, and doubled down on his anti environmental rhetoric.
Business and political leaders alike are feeling their way as Trump reshapes the world in America’s favour. Appealing to his economic self-interest is one approach. Former US climate envoy John Kerry told me that Trump should “build baby build” renewable energy infrastructure rather than “drill baby drill”.
Former US climate envoy, John Kerry, is at Davos this week speaking about the importance of the clean energy transition on the global stage.
Talking to @cathynewman, he says President Trump’s famous phrase ‘drill baby drill’ should be ‘build baby build’ more renewable energy… pic.twitter.com/5sbrixibCX
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) January 23, 2025
A former British foreign secretary had a more uncompromising message, telling me that the world needed to “buckle up” for the next four years.
A few European leaders took time out from their own political struggles to debate strategy here – but most didn’t stay long.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy did make the trip, urging Europe to waste no time in coming up with a strong message of unity – a point echoed by others keen to see Putin vanquished, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya among them.
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma played out the gathering – a rare note of harmony in a world of discord.
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