DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 23 – Following an exciting World Economic Forum annual gathering that was dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump, world leaders and corporate executives left Davos.
What we discovered is as follows:
GEOPOLITICS
Europe discovered the importance of opposing Trump. Europe’s opposition to his claim to Greenland, which may have been aided by the subsequent decline in financial markets, was cited as one of the reasons he retreated.
However, Europe’s leaders are considering ways to move more quickly when the next crisis arises because their faith in the transatlantic partnership with Washington has been severely shaken. “There are efforts to advance European decision-making.” One official from the European Union stated, “We are probably too sluggish.
While others claimed the U.S. president had brought up valid concerns, several European businesspeople and politicians said they found the Trump administration’s strategy disrespectful and impolite.
At first, Ukraine was overlooked at Davos, but Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, flew in for negotiations after Trump announced an agreement on Greenland.
Zelenskiy stated that territorial concerns remained unresolved, and U.S., Ukrainian, and Russian officials spoke of progress, but a peace agreement seems distant.
Kirill Dmitriev, the envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, arrived in Davos on Tuesday for discussions with U.S. officials. This is the first Russian official to visit Davos since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, which is another indication of the Trump administration’s influence on the agenda.
Dmitriev did not attend the Forum itself, instead holding talks at the USA House.
Leaders freely discussed what would happen if Trump attacked Iran. Would the government fall apart? And who would bear the consequences if it did? Once again, the event was characterized by Trump’s unpredictable nature.
MACROECONOMICS AND MARKETS
Trade tensions were heightened on the eve of the meeting when the United States threatened to put tariffs on European partners for opposing Trump’s aim to buy Greenland. This reinforced fears among some CEOs that Europe can no longer rely on the United States.
What do CEOs want when you speak with them today? the rule of law, stability, and predictability. During a discussion about tariffs, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne stated, “I would say it’s in short supply.”
Trump’s ploy strengthened the case for nations and businesses to increase trade with one another and diversify their business away from the more protectionist United States.
As they dealt with possible disruptions from U.S. policy, geopolitics, artificial intelligence, and financial technology, financial services companies anticipated more business activity and growth this year.
While other bankers claimed they were attempting to influence the administration’s affordability strategy, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon cautioned that a proposal to cap credit card interest rates would amount to an economic catastrophe.
Executives in the cryptocurrency sector touted the potential of blockchain technology and stablecoins to upend the financial sector. While some lenders remained cautious, others claimed to be experimenting with the new technology.
In the meantime, investors were concerned about bubbles in AI and other assets, the macroeconomic outlook, and the independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, and Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, made infrequent appearances as the tech sector descended upon Davos.
In an effort to increase its enterprise sales, AI company Anthropic set up office space on Davos’ main thoroughfare for a week. Additionally, executives stated that they were putting aside worries that the market overvalued AI businesses, in contrast to the skepticism of late 2025.
They said that although jobs would disappear, new ones would emerge. According to two corporate executives who spoke to Reuters, AI would be a pretext for layoffs rather than the actual reason.
However, union leaders demanded regulation and training because they worried AI would eliminate employment and increase inequality.
ENERGY
After a year of Trump’s presidency, Big Oil returned to Davos with a vengeance, telling American corporations to explore for more oil both domestically and elsewhere and to halt wind parks.
In contrast to the opinions of many analysts who believe that demand may plateau in the next 20 years, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told a panel that global oil production must more than double to fulfill rising energy demand.
Wright added that too much money was being wasted on green energy initiatives in both Europe and the U.S. state of California. According to one oil executive, the Trump administration is drastically altering the narrative, and the oil business is happy about it.
Elon Musk, however, disagreed with Trump on renewable energy, claiming that the United States could generate enough solar power to cover all of its electricity needs, even the growing demand from Big Tech’s power-hungry data centers.All of the electricity used in the United States could be produced in a tiny portion of Utah, Nevada, or New Mexico, which makes up a very small portion of the country’s total area,” he continued.
“Unfortunately, the tariff barriers for solar are extremely high and that makes the economics of deploying solar artificially high,” Musk stated.
DEFENCE
When Trump stated that his demands for Greenland could not be met militarily, the globe exhaled with relief. However, some executives aspire for higher defense spending from the US and Europe, including employment and building projects.
Additionally, Trump discussed a covert sonic weapon that he claimed was deployed to apprehend Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.
Trump stated that China and Russia would need to start over. According to the Kremlin, Russian secret services are investigating it.
