[UPDATED] US Is ‘Economic Engine Of The Planet’, Trump Tells World Leaders In Davos

President Donald Trump Wednesday proclaimed the United States as the “economic engine of the planet”.

The US President was addressing global CEOs at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, a day after his first anniversary since his return to the White House.

Trump descended on Davos on Wednesday for a tense showdown with world leaders, as allies push back on his global order-shaking bid to seize control of Greenland.

“I come to this year’s World Economic Forum with very phenomenal greetings from America.

“Yesterday marked the first anniversary of my inauguration, and today, after one year back at the White House, our economy is booming, productivity is surging, investment is soaring, and incomes are rising. Inflation is being defeated. Our previously open border is closed and impenetrable.

“The United States is in the midst of the fastest and most dramatic economic turnaround in the country’s history.

“Under the Biden administration, the economy was plagued by the nightmare of stagflation, of low growth and high inflation, which was a recipe for misery and failure.

“But now, after just one year of my policies, we have witnessed the exact opposite. No inflation and an extraordinarily high economic growth.

“Over the past three months, core inflation has been just about 1.6 per cent. Meanwhile, fourth quarter growth is projected to be 4.6 per cent, far greater than I or even anybody predicted.

“People are doing well and are very happy with me.

“In the next four years, we have secured nothing less than $18 trillion in investments. When the final numbers come out, it will be close to about $20 trillion in investments.

“The United States economy is on pace to grow at double the rate that was projected by the IMF.

“When America booms, the world booms. When we go down, the world goes down with us.

“The economy is at a point I never thought we would be. My biggest surprise is that I thought the growth would take more than a year. But it has happened very quickly.

“How we have achieved this economic miracle and intend to keep it is to lift the living standard of our people as we have never done before. And how you, too, from the places you come from, can do much more because certain places in Europe are not even recognisable anymore.

“I don’t want to insult anybody. I love Europe, and I want to see Europe good, but it is not heading in the right direction”, he said.

Tussle For 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 the Europeans a day before heading to the WEF.

Trump had insisted that mineral-rich Greenland is vital for US and NATO security against Russia and China as a melting Arctic opens up and the superpowers jostle for strategic advancement.

But NATO chief Mark Rutte told Davos on Wednesday that “thoughtful diplomacy” was needed, as Trump’s claims over another ally’s territory provoke an existential crisis for the group.

“There are these tensions at the moment, there’s no doubt,” said Rutte, who has been dubbed the “Trump whisperer” for his ability to deal with the US president.

France, meanwhile, called Wednesday for a NATO exercise in Greenland “and is ready to contribute to it”, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said.

The French President had warned at Davos on Tuesday against US attempts to “subordinate Europe”, and blasted Trump’s “unacceptable” threats to impose tariffs on allies over Greenland.

Europe has threatened countermeasures after Trump turned up the pressure by threatening levies of up to 25 per cent on eight European countries for backing Denmark.

READ ALSO: I Won’t Use Force To Take Greenland — Trump

US ‘Behaving Very Strangely’ For An Ally’

As the US Trump steps up his campaign to take Greenland from NATO ally Denmark, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that the US “is behaving very strangely” for an ally.

Trump’s bid to seize the Arctic island has opened up the deepest rift between Washington and Europe in decades, with the US leader threatening tariffs on several countries over their opposition to his designs on the Danish territory.

Asked in Davos in an interview with French radio station RTL whether the United States was an “ally” or “adversary” of the EU, Lagarde responded: “They are behaving very strangely for allies.”

“When you are allies under the North Atlantic Treaty, when you have been allies for decades and have been part of each other’s history, threatening to seize territory that is clearly not for sale, such as Greenland, and waving tariff restrictions, and various other restrictions on international trade, is not really behaving like an ally,” she said.