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We’ve heard more from the forty-seventh president this week than we heard from his predecessor over many months. But Donald Trump has always loved the spotlight: especially when he gets to rile up all his favorite people. This was on full display this week when, rather than winding down from his inauguration speech, the president ramped up his message in a video call to Davos.
The establishment was on high alert all week, well aware that the annual Swiss gathering of politicians and CEOs kicked off on the same day Trump was sworn in for a second time. They were right to be worried. Trump did not pull his punches. But to the relief of many Davos attendees, Trump’s critical focus was largely pointed at political opposition in his own country. The president continued to attack his predecessor’s economic record, insisting Joe Biden “lost control of what was going on in our country but, in particular, with our high inflation economy and at our border.”
But tariffs were still announced as a big part of his agenda, alongside promises to bring down interest rates (a decision that currently does not sit with the president), and to bring down oil prices too. “If you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply you will have to pay a tariff,” said Trump. “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.”
To what extent this is really the Trump administration’s plan is an ever-growing question, not least as the Donald has already suggested that his tariff plans, which were not implemented on China or Canada on “day one” as once suggested, will be watered down. The suspicion remains that the tariffs are a negotiating tactic — but crucially for the president’s plan, countries must continue to believe the threat of tariffs is real for Trump to get them to play ball when renegotiating trade deals.
Trump’s return to the (virtual) Davos stage was simply another reminder that it’s his world again that we’re all living in. This doesn’t just apply to tariffs and trade deals, but to a renegotiated defense agreement among NATO nations: one which would see countries’ spending on defense rise to 5 percent of GDP. It’s a very high percentage he’s selected, one that the United States has not spent since the 1980s. The call for more spending was mixed in with what is emerging as perhaps Trump’s biggest priority in the months: to bring Russia’s war in Ukraine to an end. His call, that it’s “time to end it” suggests this may be where the president is most open to collaboration and negotiation.
