President Trump Dominates Davos

It was stunning how much President Trump defined the World Economic Forum at Davos this year.First, it meant a great deal to the Swiss that he was coming. They are worried about the World Economic Forum moving to someplace else like Singapore, Munich, or Milan. They recognize that it is good for their country’s prestige and economy. After all, when 3,000 participants and another 30,000 support staff show up in a town of 11,000, it is a huge financial opportunity.Second, because the American president was coming, more than 60 other foreign leaders came. Furthermore, there were a lot of corporate leaders and major investors. Of the 3,000 participants, more than 800 were Americans. Almost every fourth person we met was from the states. It was striking how much attitudes toward Mr. Trump have changed. Some people we spoke with did not particularly like some of his messages. He was tough in his warning that the Europeans are drowning in a sea of immigrants and risked the collapse of their countries. He was also bullish about how many things he had achieved.However, the reaction was not rejection. It was anger at some of the details, but it was acceptance that he was the most powerful person in the world. The fact is the American economy has been outgrowing the European economy by an enormous margin. The American military is the most powerful in the world. In fact, it is vastly more powerful than all the European countries combined. Any American president would be a dominating figure.Furthermore, the Europeans know that they cannot survive against Vladimir Putin and Russia without American help. Finally, there was a distinct sense that after three presidential campaigns, two impeachments, four lawsuits, and two assassination attempts, Mr. Trump is now an historic fact—a force of nature. The tariff fights have all the Europeans edgy because they know how badly their economies could be hurt if Mr. Trump really wielded the tariff stick heavily.Finally, there was a distinct sense that in his major speech, and during the Board of Peace for Gaza session the following day, historic things were being said and done.The president’s arrival was made even more dramatic by the fact that Air Force One had a mechanical problem and had to turn back about 25 minutes after takeoff. He was clearly going to arrive late at Zurich and the new question was whether he could make it through the weather. Luckily, the weather cleared and Marine One landed at Davos.It was amazing to watch Mr. Trump forget about downtime and go straight to work. He delivered a major speech straight off the trip from Washington. It was tough and aggressive but on balance it was well received. He then went to a series of bilateral meetings (the first was with the Swiss, and my wife Callista, as American ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, attended). Then he dropped by a reception for major business leaders. Watching Bill Gates and Tim Cook chat — and considering the scale of wealth Microsoft and Apple wield — was a little wild). The attendees represented billions and billions of dollars, and the president engaged them effortlessly. They were supportive of him in a way that would have seemed impossible a year ago.Finally, the dance about Greenland has been described to me as classic New York real estate maneuvering. First you set impossible goals and insist that you must have what you have outlined. Then when your counterpart is shocked and can’t believe you want everything, you begin to sound reasonable. At that point they are so delighted that you have backed off that they are comfortable meeting your new reasonable goals (which would have seemed unreasonable if that is where you had started).This explanation of a cultural style at New York made sense to me — although I think the president could have gotten everything he wanted in a calm way. The weight of the American system is so enormous. We’ve been militarily involved in Greenland since 1946. Regardless, we should end up being able to do everything we think is militarily necessary.It was an amazing tour de force and it made Davos Mr. Trump’s kind of town — at least for that week.

President Trump Dominates Davos

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