Donald Trump, King of the World Economic Forum?

US president Donald Trump turned this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) into something close to his own royal court. By the time he and his posse arrived on Wednesday afternoon, Davos was in a state of frenzy. As far as the business oligarchs and political leaders present were concerned, nothing and no one else mattered. It was as if Davos had decided to pivot around Trump.

Even before he arrived, virtually the entire event had been refashioned in Trump’s image. Anyone who has attended the WEF in recent years would have been shocked to see just how much the vibe around this year’s conference had changed. There was none of the globalist and woke rhetoric that had used to dominate the proceedings of the WEF. As one report noted of this year’s agenda, ‘there is much less about climate change and diversity and inclusion, and many more references to “honest” conversations’.

The contrast with previous meetings of the WEF was striking. It was not that long ago that the Davos elites launched their infamous programme, the ‘Great Reset’ – a vision of a post-pandemic world shaped by identity politics and climate hysteria. Attendees at previous WEF meet-ups could expect to hear those in charge claiming that ‘LGBT+ inclusion’ is ‘the secret to cities’ post-pandemic success’, while Greta Thunberg would deliver apocalyptic speeches (as she did in 2019, 2020 and 2021).

But not anymore. The WEF has chosen to drop its old obsessions and shamelessly reinvent itself as a Trump fan club. As a headline in the New York Times put it, ‘Deference to Trump has replaced everything’. It added that ‘any pretence that the values of Davos and Mr Trump’s worldview are in opposition has been carefully erased’. There has been a focus this year on ‘artificial intelligence and crypto’, rather than electric vehicles and gender identity.

Not that many in attendance were paying any attention to the official programme, anyway. They were fixated on what Trump might have to say about America’s attempts to take possession of Greenland and the threat of a tariff war with Europe.

When he finally delivered his delayed speech, Trump addressed his audience as what they were – namely, reluctant supplicants too weak to thwart his geopolitical ambitions. After boasting about his alleged role in America’s economic growth, he took several well-aimed swipes at Europe. He claimed that ‘certain places in Europe were not even recognisable’ and that Europe’s leaders had destroyed their own nations. He was particularly cutting about the Europeans’ obsession with green energy, accusing them of wasting money on buying windmills from China, while the Chinese Communist Party laughs all the way to the bank.

And then Trump got to the issue on everyone’s mind: Greenland. Any European politicians hoping that Trump had backed down from his plans to ‘own’ Greenland would have been disappointed by what they heard. He insisted that Greenland was a strategic national and international security issue, adding that he was seeking immediate negotiations with Denmark to acquire the island. To those concerned about an imminent escalation into conflict, Trump said that he ‘won’t use force’ in Greenland. This, though, was slightly undermined by his subsequent promise only not to ‘use excessive force’.

Trump’s statement on Greenland will not have reassured Europe’s leaders. He restated his previous position, insisted he wanted the issue resolved as a matter of urgency and said almost nothing about the punitive tariffs he is threatening to impose on Europe. An objective assessment of the balance of power suggests that, either formally or informally, Washington will get its way.

There may not have been anything new in Trump’s speech, but its delivery and the reaction of the audience was significant. Trump came to Europe to lay down the law. And its leaders could do little but grumble in the background. Their impotence in the face of Trump was on full display in Davos.

Europe’s holiday from history has come to an abrupt and painful end.

Frank Furedi is the executive director of the think-tank, MCC-Brussels.