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Live BlogLAST UPDATE | 36 mins ago
DONALD TRUMP SAID he would not use force to takeover Greenland as he “[doesn't] have to” in an address to the annual gathering of the global elite this afternoon amidst his threats to annex Greenland.
The US President also said Europe would be “speaking German and a little Japanese, perhaps” if not for the United States, as he addressed the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
The WEF agenda has, to some extent, been overtaken by Trump’s dramatic policy moves including his recent demand that the United States take over Greenland “the easy way or the hard way”.
WEF organisers say more than 3,000 delegates from more than 130 countries are attending this year, including 64 heads of state and government (among them Taoiseach Micheál Martin).
Follow along for the latest updates here.
Earlier, Trump said that the US “will remember” if his administration’s attempt to take control of Greenland fails.
“We want a piece of ice for world protection and they won’t give it”, Trump said.
“They have a choice: They can say yes, and we will be very appreciative, or you can say no and we will remember.”
We’ve hit the 45-minute mark on Trump’s WEF address.
He’s currently discussing the US crypto market (and occasionally mentioning Biden).
A few attendees appear to be falling asleep.
Trump is, once again, going on a tirade against his presidential predecessor, Joe Biden.
“Biden and his allies destroyed our economy and gave us perhaps the worst inflation in American history,” Trump said.
“They say 48 years. I say forever, but I think 48 years is the equivalent to forever, whether it’s 48 years or ever. It’s terrible, costing the typical family $33,000 what they did to this country should never, ever be forgotten.”
He then speaks for several minutes on US grocery prices.
In a confusing moment, Trump blames “Iceland” for the drop on the US stock market yesterday.
No doubt this section of Trump’s speech must be leaving some attendees rather confused.
Trump once again takes aim at NATO.
“The problem with NATO is that we’ll be there for them 100% but I’m not sure that be there for us,” the US President says.
“With all of the money we expend, with all of the blood, sweat and tears, I don’t know that they’d be there for us.”
Trump tells attendees that he is due to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today.
“I’m dealing with President Putin and he wants to make a deal, I believe I’m dealing with President Zelenskyy,” Trump says.
“They got to get that war stuff, because too many people are dying, needlessly dying, too many souls are being lost. It’s the only reason I’m interested in doing it.”
Trump clarifies that he “wont use force” in his takeover of Greenland.
“I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” he says.
“We won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive force, we’d be unstoppable, but we won’t do that.”
He also takes aim at NATO, adding that the US has “got nothing” out of the defence alliance.
Just to clarify, Greenland is not just “a piece of ice” – it’s over 2 million square kilometres of land with a population of around 56,000 people.
He’s back on the home front now, referring to the 2024 US presidential election as “rigged”.
Trump also finally touches on Ukraine – which no doubt would have been the main focus of the WEF before all eyes were diverted to Greenland.
“Everything was bad with the United States when I came into office, but I also inherited a mess with Ukraine and Russia, something that would have never happened,” Trump said.
“And I know Putin very well. He and I would discuss Ukraine. It was the apple of his eye, but he wasn’t going to do anything.
“I said, Vladimir, you’re not doing it. He would never have done it. So it was terrible what happened. I could see it happening too. After I left, I could see it happening.”
Trump claims that the US alone can protect “this giant, massive land”, referring to Greenland as “this giant piece of ice”.
“That’s the reason I’m seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history, as many of the European nations have, they’ve acquired there’s nothing wrong with it,” Trump adds.
Trump continues to refer back to World War Two.
“We saved Greenland and successfully prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold in our hemispheres. And we did it for ourselves also.”
He adds that the US “won the war big”.
Without us. Right now, you’d all be speaking German and little Japanese, perhaps.
“Would you like me to say a few words on Greenland?” Trump asks the WEF.
He adds that he was “going to leave it out of the speech”, but thought that he “would have been reviewed very negatively.”
“I have tremendous respect for both the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark, tremendous respect,” Trump says.
“But every NATO ally has an obligation to be able to defend their own territory, and the fact is, no nation or group of nations is in any position to be able to secure Greenland, other than the United States, where great power much greater than people even understand – I think they found that out two weeks ago in Venezuela,” Trump said.
He then refers back to World War Two – “when Denmark fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland.”
“So the United States was then compelled and we did it. We felt an obligation to do it, to send our own forces to hold the Greenland territory and hold it we did at great cost and expense, they didn’t have a chance of getting on it and they tried, Denmark, knows.”
Trump is now launching an attack against windmills.
“There are windmills all over Europe. There are windmills all over the place, and they are losers. One thing I’ve noticed is that the more windmills a country has, the more money that country loses, and the worst that country is doing,” Trump said.
He then claimed that China “makes almost all of the windmills.”
“And yet, I haven’t been able to find any wind farms in China? Did you ever think of that? It’s a good way of looking at they’re smart. China’s very smart. They make them. They sell them for a fortune.
“They sell them to the stupid people that buy them, but they don’t use them themselves. They put up a couple of big wind farms, but they don’t use them. They just put them up to show people what they could look like. They don’t spin, they don’t do anything.”
So far, this has mainly been Trump’s highlights from his press conference yesterday, where he lauded his achievements during his first year in office.
He’s also taken some shots at Europe.
“We can argue about it, but there’s no argument. Friends come back from different places – I don’t want to insult anybody – and say, I don’t recognise it. And that’s not in a positive way, that’s in a very negative way,” Trump told attendees.
“And I love Europe and I want to see Europe go good, but it’s not heading in the right direction.
“I want Europe to do great, I want UK to do great,” he added.
He’s now on oil and Venezuela.
“Every major oil company is coming in with us [into Venezuela],”Trump tells attendees.
“Venezuela is going to do fantastically well. We appreciate all of the cooperation we’ve been giving, they’ve been giving great cooperation. Once the attack ended, the attack ended, they said, let’s make a deal.
“Venezuela is going to make more money in the next six months than they’ve made in the last 20 years. It’s amazing. It’s a beautiful thing to see. “
Trump adds that Europe “is not heading in the right direction”.
The US President claimed that he “doesn’t recognise Europe”.
“I love Europe, I want to see it do good but it’s not going in the right direction.”
Trump started off his speech touting what he claimed are major economic gains in the US, including regarding income levels and inflation.”
“It’s great for all nations,” Trump said.
“The US is the economic engine for all nations on the planet. When America booms, the entire world booms.”
“When it goes bad… you all follow us down.”
Trump has arrived on stage at Davos, only a few minutes later than expected.
He began by telling attendees that he is addressing business leaders, “so many friends” and “a few enemies”.
He akso claims to be bringing “phenomenal news” from America.
“The economy is booming,” he claimed.
Orderly queues are forming as WEF attendees try to catch a glimpse of Trump’s arrival.
Undoubtedly, the elephant in the room at the WEF will be Trump’s recent threats to take over Greenland.
Trump’s speech at Davos today is expected to have an “America first” feel, a senior White House official told the pool of journalists who were aboard Air Force One this morning.
The official said the president will also touch on Greenland, as well as Venezuela and the US economy.
Asked yesterday how far he was prepared to go to acquire the autonomous territory from Denmark, a fellow NATO member, Trump told reporters: “You’ll find out.”
REPORTER: "How far are you willing to go to acquire Greenland?"@POTUS: "You'll find out." pic.twitter.com/P7RbWpTrKd
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 20, 2026
NATO chief Mark Rutte said yesterday that “thoughtful diplomacy” was needed to deal with tensions over Greenland.
“I see that there are these tensions at the moment, there’s no doubt. Again, I’m not going to comment on that, but I can assure you, the only way to deal with that is, in the end, thoughtful diplomacy,” Rutte said at the World Economic Forum.
“You can be assured that I’m working on this issue behind the scenes, but I cannot do it in public.”
Trump’s push to take over Greenland from Denmark has rocked NATO, and the meetings at WEF this week are expected to reflect that.
Rutte has sought to deflect Trump’s interest in the Danish autonomous territory into a broader discussion at NATO on bolstering Arctic security.
“When it comes to the Arctic, I think President Trump is right. Other leaders in NATO are right. We need to defend the Arctic,” Rutte said.
“NATO is crucial, not only for the defence of Europe, but also for the defence of the United States.
“For the United States to stay safe, you need a safe Arctic, a safe Atlantic and a safe Europe,” Rutte added.
Trump was originally scheduled to give a speech to Davos’s annual gathering of the world’s economic and political elite at 2:30pm (that’s 1.30pm Irish time).
But after his delayed arrival in Zurich as a result of a “minor electrical issue” that forced Air Force One to turn back after takeoff, it is not yet clear when he will address the forum.
Here’s a look at Trump arriving in Switzerland this afternoon.
He appears to speak to reporters, but he cannot be heard over some nearby helicopters.
JUST IN: President Trump arrived on Wednesday in Zurich, Switzerland, ahead of his scheduled address in Davos.
— ABC News (@ABC) January 21, 2026
Read more: https://t.co/pverNIcCEH pic.twitter.com/eL4XOCkzyR
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is also due in Davos today.
He will address the annual Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Dinner today before taking part in engagements tomorrow, including a WEF panel discussion titled: ‘Europe is Treading Water – How Can it Make Waves?’.
Martin described the WEF as “an opportunity to meet with international leaders and business leaders to discuss how we can work together to best address geopolitical and economic challenges.”
He also said he was looking forward to meeting with business leaders with a presence in Ireland.
Meeting fellow finance ministers ahead of the conference earlier this week, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the next number of days would be “crucial” for EU-US relations and now was the time for “cool heads”.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drew a rare standing ovation at Davos yesterday in a speech where he warned that the “old order is not coming back”.
Addressing the forum, Carney warned that the world is in the “midst of a rupture, not a transition”.
And while he didn’t address US President Donald Trump by name, the meaning was clear.
In his speech yesterday from Davos, Carney said Canada “stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland’s future”.
While Carney remarked that the “American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods,” he warned that “this bargain no longer works”.
“Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” he added.
Carney also noted that “great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons” and “tariffs as leverage” and that as a result, countries are developing “greater strategic autonomy”.
A number of local protests against Trump have taken place in Switzerland ahead of the forum.
In a sign of the dissent against Trump, the words “No Kings” and “stop wars now” were dug into the snow overlooking mountain-fringed Davos overnight.
Trump is about to land here in Davos and there’s a giant ‘stop wars now’ sign written where his helicopter will touch down. pic.twitter.com/PzfC6rrt5E
— Caolan (@CaolanReports) January 21, 2026
Good afternoon and welcome to our liveblog on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Donald Trump has descended on the forum for a tense showdown with world leaders, as allies are pushing back on his global order-shaking bid to seize control of Greenland.
Trump, who landed at Zurich after a delay due to a “minor electrical issue” that forced Air Force One to turn back after takeoff, mocked European leaders yesterday before heading to Switzerland.
But leaders gathered at the Swiss ski resort have closed ranks against Trump, with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney warning of a “rupture” to the US-led global system and French President Emmanuel Macron vowing to stand against “bullies”.
We’ll have the latest updates for you here.
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