Davos braces for Trump as even he admits: ‘I have no idea what’s going to happen’

“This will be an interesting trip. I have no idea what’s going to happen, but you are well represented,” Trump admitted as he left the White House on Tuesday night to begin his journey to Switzerland. Shortly after embarking for what is expected to be a turbulent Davos forum, Air Force One was forced to head back to Joint Base Andrews after experiencing a “minor electrical issue.”

World leaders are no longer downplaying Trump’s desire to “own” Greenland as a mere quip. The temperature has well and truly been raised by the president’s escalating rhetoric in recent days, as well as last week’s meeting between Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Danish and Greenland’s diplomats.

Now, NATO allies are split on how to respond to Trump after months of trying to placate the president regarding a range of foreign policy priorities.

“There will be a nervousness among the attendees at Davos, which is, I think, President Trump’s intention,” Hudson Institute adjunct fellow Paul Sracic told the Washington Examiner. “He likes to keep those he is negotiating with off-balance because he knows that gives him an advantage.”

But as the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron are discovering, “playing hardball with Trump won’t work,” according to Sracic.

“[Trump] will always raise the ante,” he said. “What our allies should be doing is formulating a plan that looks for common ground.” 

Trump has indeed raised the ante, including last weekend’s announcement of 10% tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland from Feb. 1 after those countries deployed military personnel to Greenland. 

Those duties could increase to 25% if there is no deal between the United States and Denmark on Greenland by June 1, Trump wrote on social media, as the European Union prepares a so-called tariff bazooka in response.

Trump then, this week, publicly posted on Truth Social separate private messages between himself, Macron, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte regarding Greenland.

Trump went on to use the same platform to criticize British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his decision to cede the British territory of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and amplify memes of him declaring Greenland a U.S. territory, as he has simultaneously declined to dismiss the prospect of military action for it.

“How far are you prepared to go to acquire Greenland?” Trump was asked on Tuesday.

“You’ll find out,” he replied. 

Trump made those comments during a rare appearance in the White House briefing room to mark his first anniversary of returning to office and power. Reporters peppered him with questions regarding Greenland and the U.S.’s relationship with NATO, particularly after the president told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre last weekend that he no longer considers himself to have an “obligation to think purely of Peace” because he did not receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

“We have a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland, and I think things are going to work out pretty well,” he said Thursday. “When I speak to them, they’ll be thrilled.”

For Sracic, “clearly the U.S. has national security concerns involving Greenland, and therefore wants some control over the territory.”

“Is there a solution that preserves Danish sovereignty but gives the U.S. government more control?” he asked. “I would suggest as a model the ‘golden share,’ agreed to by Nippon Steel in return for allowing that company to purchase U.S. Steel. Nippon Steel ‘owns’ U.S. Steel, but the Trump administration has some formal control.”

Trump, who appeared at Davos in person twice during his first administration despite his complaints about it being the glitzy gathering of “globalist cucks,” had intended to underscore his proposals to improve affordability at home and his Board of Peace abroad during his trip.

“President Trump will unveil initiatives to drive down housing costs, tout his economic agenda that has propelled the United States to lead the world in economic growth, and emphasize that the United States and Europe must leave behind economic stagnation and the policies that caused it,” a White House official told the Washington Examiner.

But Trump’s designs regarding Greenland, in addition to reports that permanent membership on his Board of Peace, criticized for trying to compete with the United Nations and for its inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, costs $1 billion, have undermined those aims. 

Trump, for example, previewed the possibility of 200% tariffs on French wines and champagnes after Macron indicated he is unlikely to become a member of his board of peace because it could undercut the U.N.

Meanwhile, Trump confirmed those fears on Tuesday: “Well, it might. The U.N. just hasn’t been very helpful.”

For Sracic, Trump perceives Davos “not as a collaborative forum, but as an international ‘bully pulpit.’” 

“While historically, world leaders have gathered there to listen and learn from one another, Trump goes to lecture,” he said. 

To that end, American Enterprise Institute nonresident senior fellow Heather Conley predicted that during his address, Trump on Wednesday would “reframe his presence at Davos as a rejection of globalism but an ‘embrace of Americanism’.”

“President Trump’s decision to travel to Davos certainly reinforces his growing self-confidence as a historic international figure and will give him an opportunity to highlight foreign policy issues as he meets with his counterparts to discuss global issues, such as Ukraine and Gaza,” Conley told the Washington Examiner. 

Aside from that address, Trump is also expected to attend the first meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday after sit-downs with world leaders and a reception with their business contemporaries, accompanied by the largest U.S. delegation to Davos ever.

“We’re just really excited to continue the implementation phase,” a senior administration official told reporters of Trump’s peace deal between Israel and Hamas that created the Board of Peace. “We do it on behalf of all the people who have suffered, people who have died, people who are looking for a better life for their families, who have endured so much, and long-term for peace in the Middle East because it’s so important.”

The White House had previously said Trump would use his address to the rich and powerful to promote his prohibition on institutional investors buying single-family homes, a decision that has been criticized by Democrats for risking appearing out of touch.

“With grocery prices spiking and recession-level job loss hitting the country, it’s tone deaf,” Democratic strategist Andrew Bates told the Washington Examiner.

But regardless of Greenland, former Trump White House Domestic Policy Council Director Joe Grogan contended it is important for the president to be at Davos “as a marketer of the United States.” 

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“This is really not just about President Trump being in ascendance, but it’s about the United States being back and continuing to extend its lead over Europe and the rest of the world as far as economic growth,” Grogan told the Washington Examiner.

A high-profile Davos attendee, granted anonymity by the Washington Examiner to speak candidly, agreed, saying, “He’ll deliver a few broadsides in his speech, but behind the scenes we all know he’ll be in full tycoon mode.”