He also sharply criticised his predecessor Joe Biden and policies that have dominated at Davos for years, from climate change policies to diversity. “I'm also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil."
The remarks were the first of Trump's four-day-old presidency to global business and political leaders at a time when markets are on edge over his plans for broad tariffs on imported goods. Oil prices turned negative as Trump spoke, while the euro dipped and the US dollar swung between gains and losses against a basket of foreign currencies.
Some of his harshest criticism was reserved for traditional US allies Canada and the EU who he threatened again with new tariffs, while berating their import policies blaming them for the US's trade goods deficit with these partners. "One thing we're going to be demanding is we're going to be demanding respect from other nations. Canada. We have a tremendous deficit with Canada. We're not going to have that anywhere," he said.
On the Ukraine war, Trump said, "I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended. And that's not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It's from the standpoint of millions of lives being wasted... It's a carnage. And we really have to stop that war."
People cheered as Trump's face appeared on the big screen. Trump listed the rapid-fire changes he had made since his swearing-in on Monday.
He also sharply criticised his predecessor Joe Biden and policies that have dominated at Davos for years, from climate change policies to diversity.
Trump promised to reduce inflation with a mix of tariffs, deregulation and tax cuts along with his crackdown on illegal immigration and commitment to making the US a hub of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies and fossil fuels. He also criticised the levels of taxation in the EU. "The US has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we're going to use it," Trump said. "Not only will this reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services, it will make the US a manufacturing superpower.”
