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FILE PHOTO: A view of a logo during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2024.
Davos Dispatch: 3 takeaways & 3 things to watch
GZERO’s very own Tony Maciulis is in the Alps all week to report from the 55th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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Grüetzi! That means “hello” in Swiss German, and it’s the only word I know in that language. But there are people from 130 countries gathered in this little Alpine village right now, so a smile and a nod will generally get you through anything but the security line.
As we head into the third day of the World Economic Forum, conventional wisdom is that newly inaugurated President Donald Trump is dominating all the conversations here. That isn’t wrong. But it’s kind of a “Yes, and ...” as they teach you in improv.
A few notes from yesterday:
- China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang made headlines with his address at the forum, though it read like a speech meant to counter an executive order on tariff hikes that hasn’t yet been issued. Instead, it felt like a preemptive strike as he warned, “Protectionism leads to nowhere, and there are no winners in a trade war.” He made a case for multilateralism on the most multilateral of stages, perhaps setting the stage for moves China will make to fill a leadership void if the US backs out of major global efforts like the World Health Organization.
- If China’s on offense, Europe is building defense. In two big speeches Tuesday, both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen laid out arguments for a stronger, more self-reliant Europe. Zelensky called for increased defense spending that could give the Continent a shot at going it alone if US support diminishes. “Europe has too often outsourced its security, but those days are gone,” Von der Leyen declared.
- And I overheard more than a few grumblings on the Promenade about the déjà vu of another US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump puts America in the company of only three other countries — Yemen, Libya, and Iran. But who’s counting?
What to watch for today:
- Speaking of Iran, that nation’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs Javad Zarif is set to speak on Wednesday, as is Syria’s new Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani. These are two prominent moments in an agenda that has several programs focused on the Middle East.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres will be here just days afterhe warned the world has opened “a Pandora’s box of ills” with regard to growing inequalities and protracted conflicts. (Close the box, please.)
- And our Global Stage series is set to premiere a new conversation from Davos! “The AI Economy: An Engine for Local Growth,” streams at 11 a.m. ET today. The program features Ian Bremmer, Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, European Investment Bank President Nadia Calviño, and G42’s CEO Peng Xiao. Watchhere.
FILE PHOTO: On the surface, Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau had similar Christmas holidays.
A tale of two getaways
The next day, the US president flew to St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands, with his wife Dr. Jill Biden and his grandchildren for a sun-drenched week with wealthy friends, the Nevilles. While Biden’s trip was devoid of controversy, apart from being spotted with a sunburn on his way home, Trudeau faced a week of bad press over his vacation.
First, there’s the question of who paid for the holiday. The White House did not say who picked up the bill for the Bidens. The prime minister’s office, on the other hand, said the Trudeaus would pay for their trip, and then later revealed that they were not paying the Greens to stay at the opulent $9,300-a-night villa. At a time when cost-of-living concerns are top of mind for Canadian voters, and Trudeau is trailing the Conservatives by double digits in the polls, the news stuck in people’s craws.
Americans are used to a bigger role of big money in politics, so a free trip doesn’t seem like a big deal, says Graeme Thompson, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro-Geopolitics practice. But Trudeau has a history of impolitic travel, so voters are primed to view his vacations with suspicion. Some Conservatives are even asking for a probe of his vacation and how the information rollout was handled.
“If I was team Trudeau, with an eye to the next election, knowing where they stand in the polls … I would have suggested that that was not a politically smart thing to do. When people are facing a cost of living crisis, it just seems tone deaf.”