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From 20 to 24 January, the annual World Economic Forum took place in Davos-Klosters. As the organisation recalls, the 2025 edition – born under the slogan “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age” – is characterised by a very complex geopolitical context that has changed rapidly with the inauguration of Donald Trump at the White House. The event, as always, aimed to create synergies and open debates on current issues relating to global economic sustainability, but not only. The founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, was quick to point out just before the start of the event that, despite international tensions, it would be the responsibility of organisers and participants to build a constructive, close dialogue and achieve concrete goals to access new opportunities. And it was in this direction of opportunities and change that Donald Trump’s speech at the event went just hours after taking office as President of the United States.
Trump in the White House: immediately executive
He promised and he did it. Immediately after being sworn in and celebrating his inauguration, Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders, fifty to be precise, which have effectively already changed the face of the USA, but not only. Because the tycoon has not only chosen for his country to no longer be part of the WHO, but has also determined the exit from the Paris climate agreement. Probably one of the issues that has most closely concerned the World Economic Forum is the introduction of new tariffs to prevent the value of taxes from weighing on US citizens, along with all the initiatives dedicated to resolving what Trump has called the “worst inflationary crisis in modern history”. The WEF also included meetings dedicated to energy. Almost 3,000 leaders took part in the international event to share best practices, ideas and establish new partnerships. As for Trump, there was no doubt that the US will soon change direction. The new US President explained that among the very first few initiatives since returning to the Oval Office, is the determination of a national energy emergency.
Taking stock of the situation on energy
More specifically, the US number one made it clear that the emergency is necessary to “unlock the liquid gold under our feet”. In short, he felt he had to share with the World Economic Forum audience the desire to put in place new energy infrastructures and exploit as much oil and gas as possible, not least because, according to the tycoon, America has the largest amount of oil and gas of “any country on Earth”. For Trump, these new solutions would therefore not only exploit what the earth produces, but also reduce costs because in this way the United States would become ‘a manufacturing superpower and the artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency capital of the world’.
Come to America
Trump’s speech was direct, no-nonsense, just like his inauguration. Despite the fact that Elon Musk was by his side, and that he got a government nomination, The Donald swung to the electric front in relation to the automotive sector and stipulated that Americans should feel safe to buy any vehicle they want to drive. This new era, which he called “golden age” in front of the large Davos audience, starts in the sign of greatness, of the US placing itself at the centre of the world geopolitical design and choosing, autonomously, how to acquire a new role in history. For this reason, Trump invited all the companies of the world to “come here and produce your products”, promising very low taxes. If the production does not take place in the US, the new president goes on to explain, there will be “tariffs that will direct hundreds of billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our Treasury to strengthen our economy and repay our debt”. On this topic, Trump has been keen to point out that his administration will be the one to generate more opportunities, not only in economic terms, but also in terms of employment. In fact, “jobs will be created, factories will be built and companies will grow”.
A golden election
Finally, the tycoon recalled that after his actual election, a series of numbers were announced that should benefit the world economy. “SoftBank announced an investment of between $100 billion and $200 billion and Oracle, SoftBank and OpenAI announced a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure […] it is also reported in the newspapers that Saudi Arabia will invest at least $600 billion in America.” Speaking of Arabia and benefits, Trump also reported that he will ask the prince to lower oil prices, because if this happened it would quickly lead to a resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. (Trump speech source: www.whitehouse.gov)