Trump’s Intervention at Davos 2025 Vows to ‘Make America Great Again’
Although newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump did not travel to Davos, he did intervene via videoconference at the World Economic Conference (#WEF2025) on 23 January 2025, just three days after his inauguration. During his speech, he called on OPEC to lower oil prices and financial institutions to lower interest rates.
He started off by lambasting the previous Biden-Harris administration for leading the US economy down a ruinous path. The government spending has increased by USD 1.5 trillion since Trump left office four years ago while debt servicing is up by a whopping 230% more than projected in 2020. Inflation is at a historical high and many American households are feeling the pinch in their purchasing power.
In order to stop the hemorrhage, he signed an Executive Order to freeze federal hiring, foreign aid and new regulations. He estimates that the Democratic Party added USD 50,000 as regulatory burden to each American household over the last four years. He has also instituted a new Department of Government Efficiency to fight financial waste.
Viewing the #ParisAgreement and WHO as a waste of money, he has decided to withdraw from these multilateral platforms. He argued that Americans should be able to buy cars powered by gas or electricity as they see fit. Promoting #EV would just benefit China as China is the largest EV maker and exporter in the world.
Trump stated that the US has huge reserves of oil, gas and coal, and intends to make full use of these to boost its economy. In his usual cowboy style, he threatened a number of ally and non-ally countries with higher tariffs, if they do not comply with his demands. He believes that lower oil prices could bring the Ukraine-Russia war to an end by reducing the substantial sums of money that Russia earns from selling oil to fund its military operation.
In particular, Canada and the EU — traditional allies of the USA — were not too pleased with the cowboy approach of the new President, although they did get a taste of his style during his first mandate. Nevertheless, Canada and Greenland clarified that their country is not for sale.
As for Europe, Trump has been urging them to contribute at least 5% of their GDP to NATO and to do more for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. Trump feels that Europe is taking advantage of US who is bearing most of the financial burden for their protection.
In that vein, SoftBank announced it will pour USD 500 billion into AI while Saudi Arabia plans to invest USD 600 billion in the USA. He told the audience he will persuade the Saudi crown price to up the ante to USD 1 trillion.
Under his watch, he will ‘Make America Great Again’ by ensuring that the USA remains the best place to raise capital and make money. “There will be no better place on Earth to create jobs, build factories, or grow a company than right here in the good old USA,” he hammered home.