"Absurd, fact-free babble" How Swiss politicians reacted to Donald Trump's speech
Donald Trump spoke for an hour and a half in Davos. He also took an unusual amount of time for the host country. This is how Swiss politicians reacted.
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- In his speech at the WEF in Davos, Donald Trump talked a lot about Switzerland.
- The US President also attacked Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter without mentioning her name.
- The reactions from the Swiss government have been mixed. While the SVP politicians are cautious, the criticism from the SP is harsh.
No US president has ever talked about the host country for so long at the WEF. Donald Trump has it in for Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter in particular. When the then President of the Swiss Confederation contacted him about the customs negotiations, she kept repeating herself and pointing out that Switzerland was a small country.
"She annoyed me" and "didn't leave a good impression", Donald Trump said, among other things. The president did not mention her name once, but referred to her as "prime minister".
"Without us, Switzerland would no longer be Switzerland": Overall, the host country does not come off well in Trump's speech. The reactions from Bern were correspondingly critical.
"New low point"
Cédric Wermuth, Co-President of the SP, was particularly harsh on the US President. On Bluesky, Wermuth asks rhetorically: "Is it just me or is this a new low of absurd, incoherent, fake-free babble, even by Trumpian standards?"
Wermuth also told 20 Minuten that the speech was "far more extreme and lunatic than anything previously known". "This man is a serious danger to Europe and the world, that must be clear to everyone by now," he explained, adding: "We expect President Guy Parmelin to speak plainly now and take a stand for international law, the rule of law and the preservation of Swiss sovereignty."
Karin Keller-Sutter, meanwhile, announced via her spokesperson Pascal Hollenstein that it was assumed that the Swiss population knew how to classify Trump's speech.
"There was nothing new there"
Meanwhile, party colleague Fabian Molina defended Keller-Sutter. Switzerland does not need any assessments from Trump. Keller-Sutter had obviously contradicted Trump last year, which he was not used to. "I'm glad she did it. The world needs more of that," Molina told 20 Minuten.
FDP National Councillor Hans-Peter Portmann was at least able to find some humor in Trump's speech: "Perhaps Donald Trump wanted to compete with the Arosa Humorfestival in Davos in December".
The reactions from the SVP were much more reserved. "In terms of Switzerland, I have to say - there was nothing new there," said National Councillor and foreign policy expert Franz Grüter. "We all know that the phone call with Federal Councillor Keller-Sutter didn't go well," said Grüter. His party colleague Roland Rino Büchel concluded: "Now the whole world knows that he doesn't like Karin Keller-Sutter"
