Trump made it very clear to the WEF that there is a new Tariff Sheriff in Town!!!
Trump tells Davos elites tariffs will make US a ‘manufacturing superpower’
President Donald Trump made his first international speech to the World Economic Forum and claimed the U.S. and the global economy will steam ahead even as he imposes tariffs on foreign goods.
US President Donald J. Trump is shown on screens as he addresses via remote connection a plenary session in the Congress Hall, during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
(CN) — President Donald Trump unloaded his “America First” agenda of punitive tariffs, climate denialism, deregulation and massive tax cuts onto the world stage Thursday in a speech to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Trump's appearance from the White House
via video at the elite gathering of business and political leaders in the remote Swiss town of Davos was a jarring reality check for an annual summit that sees itself as a bastion upholding free trade, globalization and green capitalism.
In a way,
Trump threw a metaphoric economic Molotov cocktail into the chamber of assembled global elites as he vowed to turn America into a tariff fortress and make it into a “manufacturing superpower” by drastically cutting regulations, exploiting its natural resources, cutting taxes, scrapping efforts to tackle climate change and punishing economic rivals. His speech was met with polite applause from the packed hall in Davos.
It was his first international speech since his
return to the White House on Monday. Since then,
Trump has carried out a dizzying slew of executive orders and moves targeting asylum seekers, minorities, Democrats, green policies and critics. He's also withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change and the World Health Organization.
In a blunt warning, Trump said foreign businesses faced high tariffs unless they moved operations to the U.S.
“Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth,” Trump said.
“But if you don't make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply you will have to pay a tariff — differing amounts — but a tariff, which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt under the Trump administration.”
Trump said his administration would “unleash” the economy by exploiting America's vast fossil fuel deposits, what he dubbed “liquid gold,” investing heavily in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies and scrapping former President Joe Biden's renewable energy plans. He called the Green Deal a “scam.”
“The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it,” Trump said.
He portrayed his economic policies as a benefit to the world economy and urged European Union leaders to follow his model and do away with “cumbersome” regulations.
“They say there's light shining all over the world since the election,” he said.
However, many economists warn Trump's policies will hamper global trade and cause massive problems both for the U.S. and the world.
There was a mixed market reaction on Thursday to his speech, though stock markets in the U.S. and Europe edged up.
Vowing to cut interest rates at home, Trump called on other governments and central banks to boost lending and implement pro-business policies. Also, he said he would ask Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to bring down crude oil prices to curb inflation.
He also made a link between high oil prices and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia's economy depends largely on high oil prices.
“If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” he said.
He used his Davos speech to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine or face even heavier sanctions. Trump said Ukraine has become a “killing fields” where “millions” of Ukrainians and Russians have been killed in combat. The death toll from the war remains far from unclear, though experts believe the casualties number in the hundreds of thousands.
The Kremlin on Thursday said it was open to start talks with Trump over the war, though on “equal, mutually respectable” terms.
“I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon and get that war ended,” Trump told the Davos audience. “We really have to stop that war. That war is horrible.”
Trump also made waves during his previous appearances at Davos during his first term in 2018 and 2020.
Introducing Trump,
Davos founder Klaus Schwab told the new president that his return and his agenda have “been at the focus of our discussions this week.” Trump was invited to speak at the summit in person next year.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.