In a presentation to the World Economic Forum on Thursday, President Donald Trump promised global elites cheaper taxes if they brought manufacturing to the United States and threatened to impose tariffs if they did not.
On his third full day in office, Trump spoke via video from the White House to the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and outlined his flurry of executive actions since his inauguration, claiming that he had a “massive mandate” from the American people to bring about change. He outlined a carrot-and-stick strategy to private investment in the United States.
“Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes as any nation on earth,” declared Donald Trump. “But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff — differing amounts — but a tariff, which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt under the Trump administration.”
Trump, who talked with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince on Wednesday, also stated Thursday that the country wanted to spend $600 billion in the United States, but that he would push Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to boost it to $1 trillion. The comment elicited chuckles from the audience in Davos.
Introducing Trump, Davos creator Klaus Schwab stated that his return and objectives had “been the focus of our discussions this week.” He asked Trump to address the meeting in person next year.
Trump, who vowed to stop the Russia-Ukraine war before entering office, said it was still a key goal, but he provided few details about how he would accomplish so.
“One thing is very important: I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon and get that war ended,” Trump told the Davos audience. “We need to put an end to that war. “That war is terrible.”
Earlier in his presentation to the event, Trump blamed the OPEC+ group of oil exporting countries for keeping oil prices artificially high for most of the nearly three-year battle. Oil sales are the economic motor that powers Moscow’s economy.
“If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” he claimed. He continued concerning OPEC+, “They are very responsible to some extent for what’s going on.”
Oil prices have lately fallen because to weaker-than-expected Chinese demand and higher output from non-OPEC+ nations such as Brazil and Argentina.
Trump’s presentation in the Davos Congress Center’s biggest hall, which has a seating capacity of 850, drew practically standing room only. Diplomats, human rights campaigners, professors, and business executives were all in attendance. This week, the snowbound Swiss town has been buzzing about his return to the White House and his bombardment of executive orders.
At times, Trump elicited moans, such as when he criticized “inept” officials of the outgoing Biden administration. The greatest laughs occurred when WEF President Borge Brende revealed Trump had contacted Chinese President Xi Jinping over the weekend, to which the US leader promptly corrected him: “He called me.”
