LONDON — Day 4 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saw a packed agenda with key updates and insights from global leaders.
A keynote address and Q&A session with US President Donald Trump were a highlight of the day, covering topics including the Ukraine-Russia war, US-EU relations, and interest rates.
Trump stated that he would “demand that interest rates drop immediately,” suggesting that rates everywhere should follow the US. He also criticized the EU, saying the US was treated “very, very unfairly, very badly” by the region. Trump also expressed his desire to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and contended that the Ukraine-Russia war would not have started if he were president.
Meanwhile, NATO’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, praised Trump’s warning on imposing further tariffs and sanctions on Russia if it did not cease its war in Ukraine. Germany’s finance minister, Jörg Kukies, emphasized the importance of addressing structural weaknesses in the economy and called for targeted reforms to the country’s debt brake rule.