(AFP) – Donald Trump returns to the Davos ski resort next week after unleashing yet another avalanche on the global order. But for the US president, his main audience is back home. Trump’s first appearance in six years at the gathering of the world’s political and global elite comes amid a spiraling crisis over his quest to acquire Greenland. Fellow leaders at the mountain retreat will also be eager to talk about other shocks from his first year back in power, from tariffs to Venezuela, Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran.
Yet for the Republican president, his keynote speech among the Swiss peaks will largely be aimed at the United States. US voters are angered by the cost of living despite Trump’s promises of a “golden age,” and his party could be facing a kicking in crucial midterm elections in November. That means Trump will spend at least part of his time in luxurious Davos — a place where leaders can easily look out of touch with ordinary people — talking about US housing.
A White House official told AFP that Trump would “unveil initiatives to drive down housing costs” and “tout his economic agenda that has propelled the United States to lead the world in economic growth.” The 79-year-old is expected to announce plans allowing prospective homebuyers to dip into their retirement accounts for down payments. Billionaire Trump is keenly aware that affordability has become his Achilles’ heel in his second term. A CNN poll last week found that 58 percent of Americans believe his first year back in the White House has been a failure, particularly on the economy.
Trump’s supporters are also increasingly uneasy about the “America First” president’s seemingly relentless focus on foreign policy since his return to the Oval Office. But as he flies into the snowy retreat, Trump will find it impossible to avoid the global storm of events that he has stirred since January 20, 2025. Trump will be alongside many of the leaders of the same European NATO allies that he has just threatened with tariffs if they don’t back his extraordinary quest to take control of Greenland from Denmark. Those threats have once again called into question the transatlantic alliance that has in many ways underpinned the western economic order celebrated at Davos.
– ‘Economic stagnation’ –
So have the broader tariffs Trump announced early in his second term, and he is set to add to the pressure on Europe in his speech. Trump will “emphasize that the United States and Europe must leave behind economic stagnation and the policies that caused it,” the White House official said. The Ukraine war will also be on the cards. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hoping for a meeting with Trump to sign new security guarantees for a hoped-for ceasefire deal with Russia, as are G7 leaders. But while the largest-ever US Davos delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have all played key roles on Ukraine, no meeting is assured.
“No bilateral meetings have been scheduled for Davos at this time,” the White House told AFP. Trump is meanwhile reportedly considering a first meeting of the so-called “Board of Peace” for war-torn Gaza at Davos, after announcing its first members in recent days. Questions are also swirling about the future of oil-rich Venezuela following the US military operation to topple its leader Nicolas Maduro, part of Trump’s assertive new approach to his country’s “backyard.”
But Trump may also pause to enjoy his time in the scenic spot he called “beautiful Davos” in his video speech to the meeting a year ago. The forum has always been an odd fit for the former New York property tycoon and reality TV star, whose brand of populism has long scorned globalist elites. But at the same time, Trump relishes the company of the rich and successful. His first Davos appearance in 2018 met occasional boos, but he made a forceful return in 2020 when he dismissed the “prophets of doom” on climate and the economy. A year later he was out of power. Now, Trump returns as a more powerful president than ever, at home and abroad.
– Danny KEMP
© 2024 AFP
