Hi all, we’re officially mid-way through the week. I want to thank you right at the beginning of this report. Thank you for staying in this fight. I can tell you right now, we are seeing the results of your perseverance in real time. Trump’s threats against the world are backfiring, and it’s because people are standing strong.
I woke up bright and early this morning to catch Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and the words that come to mind as I watched are not the one’s he was likely hoping for. It’s clear Trump wanted to project strength and dominance. Instead, he appeared weak, deranged, senile, slow, and pathetic.
Did I say pathetic? Good. Just wanted to make sure.
From the moment he arrived, Trump appeared unsteady and disoriented. Our researchers shared a clip of Trump walking unsteadily after landing. It reminded me of when he zig-zagged as he walked to greet Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Immediately, it was clear that Trump was not doing well physically.
That set the tone for an unsteady speech that quickly devolved into confusion, hostility toward allies, open bigotry, and slurring — all as the world watched on both in horror and secondhand embarrassment.
Trump began by attacking NATO and questioning whether U.S. allies would come to America’s defense, despite the explicit mutual defense obligations of NATO. He insisted that while the United States would always defend other countries, he was “not sure” they would defend us. This familiar grievance ignored decades of alliance history and the reality that NATO’s collective defense clause has been invoked only once, after the September 11 attacks, in support of the United States.
The speech then slid into outright confusion. Trump repeatedly mixed up Greenland and Iceland, at one point blaming a stock market dip on “Iceland” while simultaneously arguing that Greenland should be taken over by the United States. He reduced Greenland to “a block of ice” and claimed the U.S. needed to own it outright, insisting that NATO protection or Danish sovereignty were insufficient. According to Trump, defense only works if the United States has “right title and ownership,” dismissing alliances and treaties.
That theme of coercion continued as Trump warned Denmark and others that if they refused his demands, “we will remember.” He framed the situation as a choice between compliance and retaliation.
Trump then turned his ire toward Canada, asserting that the country “wouldn’t exist” without the United States and accusing it of ingratitude. He explicitly singled out Mark Carney, warning him to remember Trump’s words after Carney had delivered a forceful speech pushing back against Trump’s threats. The implication was clear: dissent from Trump would be met with punishment, even from one of America’s closest allies. But Trump’s invoking of Carney only served as a reminder of the brilliant speech the Canadian Prime Minister delivered before the same audience just one day prior. Carney was a leader. A statesman. Trump was a clown show. A disgrace. An embarrassment.
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Back to my report.
The speech grew darker when Trump launched into racist attacks on Somali immigrants and Somali Americans. He claimed that people from Somalia were “higher IQ than we thought” because of alleged fraud and referred to them as “low IQ people” in the same breath. Later, he argued that Minnesota demonstrated that the West cannot “mass import cultures which have failed to ever build a successful society of their own,” calling Somalia a “failed state.”
Trump also resurrected his false claim that the 2020 election was rigged, telling the Davos crowd that “everybody now knows that” and suggesting prosecutions were imminent.
Economic lies followed. Trump declared that grocery prices, energy costs, rent, mortgage rates, and car payments were all coming down fast. None of that is true. He portrayed the U.S. economy as having been “a mess” that he single-handedly fixed, again detached from reality.
Throughout the speech, Trump’s delivery was halting and strained. He bragged that NATO leaders once called him “daddy,” then complained they no longer did after he talked about taking over Greenland. He mocked European allies by claiming they would all be “speaking German and little Japanese” if not for the United States, reducing the sacrifices of World War II to a crude punchline. He slurred his words. Lost track of his own thoughts. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
Trump claimed Switzerland’s prosperity exists largely because of the United States and recounted a story about berating a Swiss leader who objected to massive tariffs. He said her refusal “rubbed me the wrong way” because she kept telling him “no.” Those are the words of an abuser.
He boasted about bringing back battleships reminiscent of World War II and suggested that modern missile manufacturing was so inefficient that his chauffeur could do a better job.
He also asserted ownership over missile defense technology, saying he told Benjamin Netanyahu to stop taking credit for the “Golden Dome,” because it was “our technology.”
Near the end, Trump suggested that the only way the United States might get Greenland would be through “excessive strength and force,” before claiming he would not use force and insisting he did not want to use it. It was just one of his many nonsensical contradictions. He then asserted that he did not need evidence to believe conspiracy theories about white genocide in South Africa, saying he simply knew it was happening.
Trump’s speech was weak. It was erratic. It was dangerous. He appeared legitimately unwell in body and mind. Trump torched our alliances and portrayed sovereignty as optional, racism as policy, and lies as truth. On a stage meant to reflect global cooperation and stability, he instead showcased grievance, intimidation, and confusion. Davos did not reveal strength or leadership. It revealed how unmoored and reckless Trump remains, and why his presence on the world stage continues to alarm allies and embarrass the United States.
