If you’ve heard one Trump speech, you’ve heard them all basically. He can never stick to the script given him, and he almost always veers off into his 24/7 selling points. I expect this to hold true in Davos, Switzerland [pictured], as he addresses the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday.
Given his lust for acquiring Greenland, he will no doubt have to address that, along with the punitive tariffs he’s announced on countries supporting the status quo in Greenland. For the sake of U.S. and European stocks and bonds, hopefully he’ll back off a bit on his tariff threats, but don’t count on it.
Other than that pressing matter, you can expect to hear retreads from virtually every speech the president has given in the past nine months, including:
- A year ago, America was dead, and now it’s the hottest nation on earth
- Foreign investments in the U.S. since I took office stand at $18 trillion, a historic high
- I’ve personally overseen eight-plus (nine, whatever) peace accords since taking office
- Our border is now closed tight
- Etc. etc.
These are just some of the Trump tidbits we can reasonably expect him to throw in, along with his justification for wanting Greenland. His reasons for that include the plethora of Russian and Chinese vessels seen there, which no one seems able to confirm. He might also brag about his plan to replace the UN (see yesterday’s post).
Frankly, from a personal perspective, and for the sake of my IRA, I hope that he TACOs on his EU tariff threats. (TACO stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”) Perhaps he can meet with any EU leaders who are present and work out some approach to Greenland that puts the tariffs on hold.
After his return, my guess is that the $18 trillion in foreign investments he brags about will soar above $20 trillion (he actually has said $22 trillion in the past).
This much can be said for certain, however: Whatever Trump decides to talk about or do in Davos, he’ll be the alpha male upon whom all attention will be focused. And he lives for that.
* After I wrote this, Trump went on TV to recount his first year in office. He covered the above points, plus a zillion others. He skirted questions about coming to the aid of Iranian protestors and about his inaugural comments about taking back the Panama Canal. The only possible breaking news was that he hinted a Greenland deal may be in the works. We’ll see. I haven’t heard any Europeans hinting at a reconciliation.
