Davos, Switzerland:
US President Donald Trump issued a blunt warning to the world’s elites in a video message to the World Economic Forum on Thursday: “Make your products in America or pay the tariffs.”
Trump was shown on a giant screen in Davos, a village in the Swiss Alps, and received thunderous applause from the biggest names in politics and business, who had been eagerly awaiting his appearance all week.
Speaking at the White House, President Trump touted plans to cut taxes, deregulate industry and crack down on illegal immigration.
But he also had a tough message.
“Come make your products in America, and we’ll give you the lowest taxes of any country on earth,” Trump said.
“But if you don’t make the product in America, which is your prerogative, you’ll very simply have to pay the tariffs.”
In a wide-ranging speech, President Trump drew a connection between the war in Ukraine and oil prices.
President Trump said he would ask Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower oil prices.
“If prices fall, the Russia-Ukraine war will end immediately,” he said.
The U.S. leader then fielded questions from executives from Bank of America, investment firm Blackstone, Spanish group Banco Santander and French oil and gas giant Total Energy.
Trump has always been in the spotlight at Davos, making headlines by attending in person twice during his first term in 2018 and 2020.
But attendance this year was made even more difficult because the forum happened to begin on Monday, the day of the presidential inauguration in Washington.
Many people lined up to hear him speak. Also in the audience were European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
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Argentine liberal President Javier Millay, one of the Republican president’s biggest cheerleaders on the world stage, took to the stage hours before Trump and railed against the “psychological virus of woke ideology.” gave a speech.
Milley said Argentina is “re-embracing the idea of freedom” and “that’s what I believe President Trump will do in this new America.”
He praised like-minded leaders, including President Trump, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador.
“Gradually an international alliance has been formed of all countries that desire freedom and believe in the idea of freedom,” he said.
He also defended his “dear friend” Elon Musk.
The US billionaire and Trump ally sparked controversy this week when he made a gesture that was compared to a Nazi salute at an inauguration event for the US president.
Milley said that Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX, “has been unfairly vilified by woke activists in the last few hours for an innocent act that merely meant gratitude to the people.” Ta.
“Try not to hyperventilate.”
President Trump has already given Davos a taste of what’s to come since his inauguration on Monday, which coincided with the first day of the WEF.
He has threatened to impose tariffs on China, the European Union, Mexico and Canada, to name just a few, pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord and reasserted ownership of the Panama Canal.
His plan to cut taxes, downsize the U.S. federal government and deregulate industry likely resonated with many businesses, but economists have warned that the policy could reignite inflation. There is.
America’s trading partners and rivals already had a chance to react at Davos earlier this week in preparation for the second installment of his America First policy.
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang did not mention President Trump by name, but warned that “there are no winners in a trade war.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels was ready to negotiate with President Trump.
But she also emphasized that the European Union’s policy on climate change differed from his, saying the bloc would stick to the Paris Agreement.
World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called for calm and sensible people to prevail during a WEF panel discussion on tariffs on Thursday, warning that tit-for-tat charges would be “devastating” for the global economy. did.
“Try not to hyperventilate,” she quipped. “I know we’re here to discuss tariffs, and I’ve been saying to everyone, can we just calm down?”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
