Criticism of Keller-Sutter Trump lashes out at Switzerland in Davos - this is what he said
Donald Trump begins his appearance in Davos with a lot of self-praise. The US President talks about the USA as the "hottest country". He also mentions Karin Keller-Sutter - and Greenland, of course.
21.01.2026, 16:12
21.01.2026, 17:30
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- In his Davos speech, Donald Trump praised his "America First" policy, reaffirmed the US interest in Greenland and sharply criticized Europe.
- He attacked several European politicians, including Emmanuel Macron and Karin Keller-Sutter, and used personal impressions to justify earlier tariff tightening against Switzerland.
- Trump defended his economic and energy policy, mocked European climate measures and announced increased investment in nuclear power.
Lots of self-praise, clear criticism of Europe - and no doubts about "America first" and the Greenland plans: in his eagerly awaited speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, US President Donald Trump mainly praised his isolationist policy. To protect the world, Greenland must be taken over by the USA, Trump claimed once again. However, he would not use force to achieve this, he said.
Instead, he called for "immediate negotiations" - he did not say with whom. Denmark, to which Greenland belongs, and other European states had always reiterated that the island was not for sale. Only the USA could defend "this huge piece of land", said Trump. "We need it for strategic national security and international security."
Trump blasphemes about Keller-Sutter
The US President lashed out at the European states at several points in his long speech. Europe is not developing "in the right direction", he said. Certain countries are not recognizable, and he did not mean that in a positive sense, but "very negatively", said Trump.
The US President also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron. The US President mockingly mentioned the fact that Macron had spoken on the Davos podium the day before wearing sunglasses.
Donald Trump spoke with much self-praise about US policy.
Image: dpa
Trump speaks in Davos.
Image: dpa
Trump arrived late in Switzerland.
Image: dpa
The speech in Davos had been eagerly awaited.
Image: dpa
Donald Trump spoke with much self-praise about US policy.
Image: dpa
Trump speaks in Davos.
Image: dpa
Trump arrived late in Switzerland.
Image: dpa
The speech in Davos had been eagerly awaited.
Image: dpa
Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter also got her comeuppance: when the then President of the Swiss Confederation - whose name Trump did not mention - contacted him in connection with the customs negotiations, she kept repeating herself and pointing out that Switzerland was a small country.
She was aggressive, annoyed him and "left a bad impression", said Trump. That is why he had even increased the tariffs from the original 30 to 39 percent. "Then all hell really broke loose." Only when business representatives approached him did he reduce the tariffs again. Today they are at 15 percent. "Switzerland has taken advantage of the USA. But without us, Switzerland would no longer be Switzerland," says Trump.
The "hottest" country in the world
Trump began his speech with much praise for himself in his first year in office. The US is the "hottest" country in the world, said the US President, who greeted "many friends" and "some enemies". "When America booms, the whole world booms. That's always been the case. When it's bad, it's bad for everybody," he said.
Trump particularly highlighted his own economic and customs policy, which is highly controversial in Europe. "Instead of raising taxes or supporting domestic producers, we lower them and raise tariffs for foreign nations to pay for the damage they cause," said Trump.
Trump also mentioned his budget policy - which is highly controversial among economists: "We have cut federal spending by 100 billion dollars and reduced the federal budget deficit by 27 percent in a single year. It will go down much further, bringing inflation down significantly from the record highs of the Biden Administration."
Trump sharply criticized clean energy efforts in other countries. He spoke of a "green scam", "perhaps the biggest scam in history". Europe, he said, was scouring the landscape with wind turbines and energy production was far too expensive.
In addition to oil and gas, the USA also relies heavily on nuclear energy. "I have signed an executive order that provides for the construction and approval of many new nuclear reactors," he said. Great progress had been made in the safety of nuclear reactors.
Delayed landing in Switzerland
The US President began his speech relatively punctually despite a significantly delayed arrival. Due to technical problems, the government plane Air Force One turned around on the way to Switzerland - the US delegation boarded a replacement plane and finally landed in Zurich on Wednesday afternoon. The delayed arrival means that Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is unlikely to meet with Trump.
On Thursday evening, following the forum, Merz and the other EU heads of state and government want to discuss how best to respond to Trump's tariff threats at a crisis meeting in Brussels.
