Trump tariffs threat loom over Davos summit
The annual meeting of The World Economic Forum attracts corporate executives, academics, philanthropists and media to the Swiss Alps town of Davos for dialogue, debate and deal-making. The Geneva-based think tank first hosted the event in 1971 with the goal to improve European management. Beginning Tuesday, 850 CEOs and chairs of the world’s top companies are expected to be among 3,000 participants from 130 countries in the Alpine resort through Friday.
US President Donald Trump’s third visit to Davos as president comes as US allies worry about his ambition to take over Greenland, Latin America grapples with his efforts to reap Venezuela’s oil and business leaders and lawmakers at home express concerns about his hardball tactics toward Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he currently has no plans to travel to Davos, as he works with officials to restore power in the country after repeated Russian drone and missile barrages.
But Zelenskyy said Tuesday he could change his plans if his delegation and US officials make a breakthrough at Davos in peace efforts aimed at ending the war. “I choose the country over an economic forum. But everything can change at any moment, because it is very important to me, and to Ukrainians, to end this war,” he said. Russia’s full-scale invasion reaches its fourth anniversary on February 24.
US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson says he hopes to “calm the waters” as Trump roils the trans-Atlantic relationship with his desire to take over Greenland. In a speech to lawmakers at Parliament, Johnson said the US and the UK “have always been able to work through our differences calmly, as friends. We will continue to do that”.
Speaking after Trump also attacked Britain’s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, Johnson said his mission in London is to calm the waters continue our dialogue and find a resolution, just as we always have in the past”. Johnson was invited to Parliament by House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle as part of events marking 250 years of American independence.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday confirmed presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev “has plans to meet with some representatives of the American delegation” in Davos. Peskov’s remarks followed media reports saying Dmitriev intends to meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as part of the US-led effort to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
Peskov refused to name specific people Dmitriev is planning to meet in Davos, saying only that it will happen “on the sidelines” of the forum “these days, today, tomorrow”.
Dmitriev earlier on Tuesday said on social media platform X that he arrived in Davos. Asked about whether ending the war in Ukraine or other issues were on Dmitriev’s agenda, Peskov said Dmitriev’s main focus is “trade, economic, and investment cooperation,” but “at the same time, Kirill Dmitriev is transmitting information to and from both sides regarding the peace process in Ukraine.”
Separately, the Kremlin spokesman said Russia has not received an invitation to a meeting in Paris on Thursday, which was referenced in a text message from French President Emmanuel Macron that Trump posted earlier Tuesday. In the message, Macron suggested a meeting of members of the Group of Seven industrialised democracies in Paris after the Davos gathering. The message also suggested inviting Denmark, Ukraine and Russia.
An official close to Emmanuel Macron said a private message shared by Trump “shows that the French President, both in public and in private, takes the same views”. Trump posted a text message Tuesday from Macron in which the French president suggested a meeting of members of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies in Paris after the Davos gathering.
The message also suggests inviting Denmark, Ukraine and Russia. The message shared by Trump is genuine, the French official said. On Greenland, France considers respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states is “non-negotiable,” said the official, who spoke anonymously in line with the customary practices of the French presidency.
Concerning Macron’s offering to organise a meeting of members of the Group of Seven most advanced economies in Paris on Thursday, the French presidency wants to make “a constructive moment that contributes to dialogue and cooperation,” the official added without further comments about Macron’s suggestion he could invite Russia. An official close to French President Emmanuel Macron said tariffs threats are “unacceptable and inefficient” after Trump threatened 200 per cent tariffs on French wine and Champagne over Paris declining his invitation to join the Board of Peace.
“Tariffs threats to influence our foreign policies are unacceptable and inefficient,” said the official, who spoke anonymously in line with the customary practices of the French presidency. Macron is expected to speak Tuesday at Davos. The British Government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand sovereignty the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after Trump attacked the plan, which his administration had previously supported.
Trump said relinquishing the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, home to a strategically important US naval and bomber base, was an act of stupidity that shows why he needs to take over Greenland. Trump’s speech Wednesday at Davos is highly anticipated and likely to include mentions of Greenland. Discussion of the Chagos Islands may now rise up the agenda at the Swiss Alps forum. This year’s edition of the World Economic Forum will be the first not headed by forum founder Klaus Schwab. The board gave its unanimous support in 2025 for an independent investigation of Schwab following a report by The Wall Street Journal.
