How Trump stole the show at Davos and revived the WEF: ‘never been more relevant’
The Trump administration brought its ‘America First’ agenda to Davos, challenging the summit’s status quo while drawing record crowds of elites
US President Donald Trump stole the show at the World Economic Forum in Davos, but he may have also made the annual gabfest of the global elite relevant again – at least for a week.
The relevance of the gathering of CEOs and political leaders in the Swiss Alps is regularly questioned by critics who deride it as an out-of-touch echo chamber where little gets done.
But all eyes were on this year’s Davos as Trump barrelled into town with a geopolitical storm hanging over the picturesque ski resort, where he pressed his case to acquire Greenland.
Hundreds of people stood in huge queues to hear Trump deliver a speech that drew gasps and nervous laughs as he mocked allies but also praised the “brilliant” A-listers in the room – and ultimately ruled out using force to take Greenland.
“It’s interesting that people were lining up to hear President Trump like they were not lining up to hear any other speaker. None has got such kind of interest,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said.