U.S. President Donald Trump with French President Emmanuel Macron in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. Yoan Valat/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
When the 2026 World Economic Forum (WEF) got underway in Davos, Switzerland on Monday, January 19, European leaders were anxiously awaiting the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump — who was scheduled to speak on Wednesday night. The event, which continues through Friday, January 23, comes at a time when Europe's dominant news story is Trump's obsession with buying Greenland, a territory of Denmark
Trump has not ruled out the possibility of taking Greenland by force, and European leaders are warning that U.S. aggression against the Arctic island risks collapsing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In a Politico Playbook column published on January 21, reporters Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns describe the tensions rocking the Davos forum as European officials awaited Trump.
Blanchard and Burns note that because of an electric issue on an Air Force One aircraft, Trump's Davos speech "might be delayed." And European leaders were on pins and needles.
"The fundamental issue for all America's NATO allies — and they are still allies — is whether to fight fire with fire and deliver a hardline economic response, or whether to smile and flatter and offer up shiny baubles for some kind of deal," the Politico reporters explain.
Politico's Jamie Dettmer, who is in Davos covering the WEF event, reported, "All eyes here in Davos were on Trump's White House press conference yesterday to see what hints he might give. The question Davos stalwarts were puzzling over is which Trump will turn up — and how combative will he be? Will he pull back from the brink and moderate his threats, or forge on? Trump's laconic response when asked how far he'll go to get Greenland — 'You’ll find out' — wasn't seen here as reassuring."
