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It was a speech that the world was not looking forward to.
On Wednesday (January 21), after a delay owing to a glitch in Air Force One, Donald Trump made it to Davos at the World Economic Forum and used the platform to complain, castigate and seek control of
Greenland — that semi-autonomous territory of Denmark that’s been at the midst of the US president’s battle with Europe.
Trump’s winding speech, clocking more than an hour, addressed a wide-range of issues, from Greenland and Venezuela to the war in Russia-Ukraine and the state of the US economy, with the overall message being that the fate and the successes of economies worldwide rest on the success of the United States.
In fact, Trump said: “The United States is the economic engine of the planet. When America booms, the entire world booms… When it goes bad, you all follow us down.”
So, what did we learn from Trump’s Davos speech? Here are the key takeaways.
Trump began his second term in office seeking to takeover Greenland, and his speech at Davos was no different.
The US president, in fact, opened his remarks at the World Economic Forum about Greenland, joking: “I was going to leave it (Greenland) out of the speech, but I think I would have been reviewed very negatively.”
He then uttered four words that could provide relief to Europe — “I won’t use force”. This is the clearest statement by Trump on his designs for Greenland. Until now, the US president hadn’t ruled out military force to acquire Greenland, with the White House earlier stating that military options remained in play.
However, he insisted that the US was the only country strong enough to protect “this big piece of ice”, and that the US needed it for national and international security. “We need it for strategic national security and international security. This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America. That’s our territory,” said Trump.
“All we’re asking for is to get Greenland, including right, title and ownership,” he added. “Because you need the ownership to defend it. You can’t defend it on a lease.”
“Who the hell wants to defend a licence agreement or lease, which is a large piece of ice in the middle of the ocean, where, if there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice,” Trump mused. “Think of it, those missiles would be flying right over the centre of that piece of ice.”
The US president also noted that he would remember those who opposed him. “You can say no and we will remember,” he warned.
In his demand for Greenland, US President Donald Trump stated in Davos that “no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland, other than the United States.”
He went on to slam Denmark as “ungrateful” for refusing to give up control of Greenland, contending that the nation owed the US for defending it during World War II.
“Denmark fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting, and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland. So the United States was then compelled, and we did it,” he said, lamenting the US’ decision at the time to allow Denmark to retain Greenland as a territory.
“How stupid were we to do that?” he said. “But we did it, but we gave it back. But how ungrateful are they now?”
In his speech that went on for more than an hour and 10 minutes, Trump took aim at targets old and new, airing his grievances against everyone.
He started with Europe and Nato, stating that European leaders had veered drastically off course. Trump expressed his disdain for how European officials had managed immigration, security and economics over the past decades. “Certain places in Europe are not even recognisable, frankly, anymore. They’re not recognisable. And we can argue about it, but there’s no argument,” Trump said minutes into his speech.
Mentioning wars of the past, Trump said, “Without us right now, you’d all be speaking German and a little Japanese,” he said.
The US president also took on the Nato, noting that the alliance cost America a lot of money. He said about defence spending, “Until I came along, Nato was only supposed to pay two per cent of GDP, but they weren’t paying. Most of the countries weren’t paying anything. The United States was paying for virtually 100 per cent of Nato. And I got that stopped. I said that’s not fair. But then more importantly, I got Nato to pay five percent, and now they were paying, and now they are paying, so something nobody said was possible.”
Trump also took note of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s earlier remarks at Davos. Directing his remarks to the Canadian leader, he said: “Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful, but they’re not. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
Trump also used the Davos platform to mock French President Emmanuel Macron and his choice of sunglasses. The US president said, “I watched him (Macron) yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?”
And despite Macron’s previous remarks, Trump noted that he was fond of his French counterpart. “I like him. I actually like him,” Trump said. “It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”
Since coming to power last January, Trump has upended the world order with the use of tariffs and it’s not wholly surprising that he mentioned them during his Davos speech either. In his speech, he said that tariffs have enabled him to secure concessions that would not have been possible otherwise.
“Without tariffs, I wouldn’t have been able to get it done,” he said.
At one point, he described his negotiating style in blunt terms, telling the audience that when tariffs are on the table, the message to other countries is simple: “You’re going to do it fast.”
After carrying out a surprising strike on Venezuela and capturing its leader, Nicolas Maduro, Trump used the Davos platform to speak on the future of the Latin-American nation.
“Venezuela’s going to do fantastically well,” said Trump, praising the administration of interim President Delcy Rodríguez. “Once the attack ended, they said, let’s make a deal. More people should do that.”
He also said that oil companies were lining up to invest in Venezuela, despite reports stating that firms were apprehensive about doing so. “Venezuela is going to make more money in the next six months than they’ve made in the last 20 years. Every major oil company’s coming in with us. It’s amazing,” he said.
During the Davos speech, Trump also touched upon the fact that he had resolved eight wars across the globe — this claim is highly contentious. He noted, “I settled eight other wars. India-Pakistan, I settled other wars that were... Vladimir Putin called me, Armenia, Aber-Bajan,” Trump said. Notably, the Aber-Bajan that the US president is referring to is Azerbaijan.
Trump also confused Greenland with Iceland, at least four times, whilst addressing the gathering of political and business leaders in Davos.
“I don't know that they’s [Nato] be there for us. They’re not there for us on Iceland (he meant Greenland), that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland’s already cost us a lot of money. But that dip is peanuts compared to what it’s gone up," said Trump.
Trump also used his time at Davos criticising green energy policies, calling them the “greatest hoax in history” and branding the Green New Deal a “Green New Scam”.
He targeted wind energy in particular, saying windmills are “all over Europe” and described them as “losers” bought by “stupid people”. “Every time that goes around, you lose $1,000. You’re supposed to make money with energy, not lose money,” he said while referring to windmills across Europe.
Calling windmills “those damn things,” he added that they “kill the birds” and “ruin the landscapes.”
Trump further added that China dominates the wind energy market, claiming that it manufactures most windmills and sells them to European countries for profit. “China makes all windmills, but I can't see any there; they sell them to stupid people in Europe and make fortunes,” he said at the forum.
With inputs from agencies
On Wednesday (January 21), after a delay owing to a glitch in Air Force One, Donald Trump made it to Davos at the World Economic Forum and used the platform to complain, castigate and seek control of
Trump’s winding speech, clocking more than an hour, addressed a wide-range of issues, from Greenland and Venezuela to the war in Russia-Ukraine and the state of the US economy, with the overall message being that the fate and the successes of economies worldwide rest on the success of the United States.
In fact, Trump said: “The United States is the economic engine of the planet. When America booms, the entire world booms… When it goes bad, you all follow us down.”
So, what did we learn from Trump’s Davos speech? Here are the key takeaways.
‘Won’t take Greenland — that big piece of ice — by force’
Trump began his second term in office seeking to takeover Greenland, and his speech at Davos was no different.
The US president, in fact, opened his remarks at the World Economic Forum about Greenland, joking: “I was going to leave it (Greenland) out of the speech, but I think I would have been reviewed very negatively.”
He then uttered four words that could provide relief to Europe — “I won’t use force”. This is the clearest statement by Trump on his designs for Greenland. Until now, the US president hadn’t ruled out military force to acquire Greenland, with the White House earlier stating that military options remained in play.
However, he insisted that the US was the only country strong enough to protect “this big piece of ice”, and that the US needed it for national and international security. “We need it for strategic national security and international security. This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America. That’s our territory,” said Trump.
“All we’re asking for is to get Greenland, including right, title and ownership,” he added. “Because you need the ownership to defend it. You can’t defend it on a lease.”
“Who the hell wants to defend a licence agreement or lease, which is a large piece of ice in the middle of the ocean, where, if there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice,” Trump mused. “Think of it, those missiles would be flying right over the centre of that piece of ice.”
The US president also noted that he would remember those who opposed him. “You can say no and we will remember,” he warned.
US President Donald Trump waves as he attends the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Reuters
Trump’s historical argument for Greenland
In his demand for Greenland, US President Donald Trump stated in Davos that “no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland, other than the United States.”
He went on to slam Denmark as “ungrateful” for refusing to give up control of Greenland, contending that the nation owed the US for defending it during World War II.
“Denmark fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting, and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland. So the United States was then compelled, and we did it,” he said, lamenting the US’ decision at the time to allow Denmark to retain Greenland as a territory.
“How stupid were we to do that?” he said. “But we did it, but we gave it back. But how ungrateful are they now?”
Europe, Nato, Carney, Macron — Trump spares no one
In his speech that went on for more than an hour and 10 minutes, Trump took aim at targets old and new, airing his grievances against everyone.
He started with Europe and Nato, stating that European leaders had veered drastically off course. Trump expressed his disdain for how European officials had managed immigration, security and economics over the past decades. “Certain places in Europe are not even recognisable, frankly, anymore. They’re not recognisable. And we can argue about it, but there’s no argument,” Trump said minutes into his speech.
Mentioning wars of the past, Trump said, “Without us right now, you’d all be speaking German and a little Japanese,” he said.
The US president also took on the Nato, noting that the alliance cost America a lot of money. He said about defence spending, “Until I came along, Nato was only supposed to pay two per cent of GDP, but they weren’t paying. Most of the countries weren’t paying anything. The United States was paying for virtually 100 per cent of Nato. And I got that stopped. I said that’s not fair. But then more importantly, I got Nato to pay five percent, and now they were paying, and now they are paying, so something nobody said was possible.”
Trump also took note of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s earlier remarks at Davos. Directing his remarks to the Canadian leader, he said: “Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way. They should be grateful, but they’re not. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
Trump also used the Davos platform to mock French President Emmanuel Macron and his choice of sunglasses. The US president said, “I watched him (Macron) yesterday with those beautiful sunglasses. What the hell happened?”
And despite Macron’s previous remarks, Trump noted that he was fond of his French counterpart. “I like him. I actually like him,” Trump said. “It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”
US President Donald Trump speaks while leaders look on during a reception at the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland. Reuters
Trump loves his tariffs
Since coming to power last January, Trump has upended the world order with the use of tariffs and it’s not wholly surprising that he mentioned them during his Davos speech either. In his speech, he said that tariffs have enabled him to secure concessions that would not have been possible otherwise.
“Without tariffs, I wouldn’t have been able to get it done,” he said.
At one point, he described his negotiating style in blunt terms, telling the audience that when tariffs are on the table, the message to other countries is simple: “You’re going to do it fast.”
Trump and Venezuela
After carrying out a surprising strike on Venezuela and capturing its leader, Nicolas Maduro, Trump used the Davos platform to speak on the future of the Latin-American nation.
“Venezuela’s going to do fantastically well,” said Trump, praising the administration of interim President Delcy Rodríguez. “Once the attack ended, they said, let’s make a deal. More people should do that.”
He also said that oil companies were lining up to invest in Venezuela, despite reports stating that firms were apprehensive about doing so. “Venezuela is going to make more money in the next six months than they’ve made in the last 20 years. Every major oil company’s coming in with us. It’s amazing,” he said.
It’s Greenland, not Iceland; it’s Azerbaijan, not Aberbajan
During the Davos speech, Trump also touched upon the fact that he had resolved eight wars across the globe — this claim is highly contentious. He noted, “I settled eight other wars. India-Pakistan, I settled other wars that were... Vladimir Putin called me, Armenia, Aber-Bajan,” Trump said. Notably, the Aber-Bajan that the US president is referring to is Azerbaijan.
Trump at Davos: “I settled 8 other wars…”
Then he started struggling through “Azerbaijan.”
“Aber-bajian" pic.twitter.com/Y8V6Kx3eGm
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) January 21, 2026
Trump also confused Greenland with Iceland, at least four times, whilst addressing the gathering of political and business leaders in Davos.
Trump doesn’t even know the difference between Iceland and Greenland, and he’s saying that Iceland calls him “Daddy.” This is your president.😆pic.twitter.com/EU9BIdPdKB
— Lilith (@Lilith_Atheist) January 21, 2026
“I don't know that they’s [Nato] be there for us. They’re not there for us on Iceland (he meant Greenland), that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland’s already cost us a lot of money. But that dip is peanuts compared to what it’s gone up," said Trump.
People film President Donald Trump during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. AP
Windmills, energy and ‘stupid people’
Trump also used his time at Davos criticising green energy policies, calling them the “greatest hoax in history” and branding the Green New Deal a “Green New Scam”.
He targeted wind energy in particular, saying windmills are “all over Europe” and described them as “losers” bought by “stupid people”. “Every time that goes around, you lose $1,000. You’re supposed to make money with energy, not lose money,” he said while referring to windmills across Europe.
Calling windmills “those damn things,” he added that they “kill the birds” and “ruin the landscapes.”
Trump further added that China dominates the wind energy market, claiming that it manufactures most windmills and sells them to European countries for profit. “China makes all windmills, but I can't see any there; they sell them to stupid people in Europe and make fortunes,” he said at the forum.
With inputs from agencies
