Historic speech by the new President of the United States, Donald Trump, in his remote address to the audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Trump has exceeded all expectations of toughness and has shown himself more relentless than in his first term.
Trump has given assignments to the rest of the world to benefit the US economy and save resources in its role as the guarantor of global security. Far from moderating after taking office, he has been relentless. He has been particularly demanding with the European Union: "I love Europe but they treat us very unfairly", he stated. And he demanded less European tax and regulatory burden on products that affect US interests. He cited airport fees for US airlines as an example.
With Saudi Arabia, he expressed disappointment that the top oil producer did not lower prices as a "welcome gift" for his second term in the White House. "I will ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to lower the price of oil. They have to reduce it, which frankly surprises me that they didn't do it before the elections. They didn't show much love. That surprised me a bit," he criticized. And he was confident that with lower prices, "the war in Ukraine would have already ended," as Russia is a significant oil producer.
Regarding NATO, Trump has formalized that all member states must increase military spending to reach 5% of their Gross Domestic Product. This particularly penalizes Spain, which is the last major country in defense budget effort and would mean more than doubling what it currently allocates.
He was less harsh than expected with China, but insisted that he will not tolerate the trade deficit that the US has with this country. He revealed that Chinese President Xi Jinping has already called him.
And to the audience in general, largely composed of representatives from companies worldwide, he was clear with a carrot: "Come manufacture your product in the United States and we will offer you some of the lowest taxes of any nation on earth." And then came the stick: "But if you don't manufacture your product in the United States, which is your right, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff — different amounts — but a tariff, which will direct hundreds of billions and even trillions of dollars to our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay off debt under the Trump administration."
In a new mention to Saudi Arabia, Trump pointed out that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman should not invest $600 billion in the US, but $1 trillion.