You can listen to Trump’s speech at Davos if you want, but let me save you the trouble: it sucked. A tiresome laundry list of exaggerations, lies, and denigrations delivered in a droning monologue; it surely had the audience asking themselves, “I valet checked my private plane for this?”
The World Economic Forum at Davos has always been the world’s most exclusive circle jerk. A plummy gathering for the waddle-necked world elite to congratulate themselves on their genius. Deals negotiated over canapes and sips of champagne. (Not for nothing, but Americans better drink up on their bubbly before Trump’s threatened European tariffs kick in.) It’s easy to poke fun at the puffery, but such gatherings have a purpose beyond the glad-handing. They’re the WD-40 that used to keep the global economic pipeline all nice and lubed.
No more.
Trump’s second term is about unraveling what was—you know, what we used to call “democracy”—in favor of a risky, 19th-century approach to global politics in which the strong colonize the weak (Venezuela, Ukraine, Greenland) and carve up the world according to their parochial interests.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney made that point abundantly clear in his address, baldly stating that, “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”
The rupture he described is the end of an 80-year Atlantic alliance forged in the aftermath of World War II, an alliance that relied on American hegemony to preserve the peace and keep the money flowing.
This alliance, represented militarily by NATO, has not been perfect, but it accomplished what it was meant to – preventing a third world war and establishing a rules-based global order. And now our homegrown Burger King wants to upend it all.
Why?
Because he can. This second Trump administration has snapped America’s military and economic might into sharp focus. A world that outsourced its security to the United States on the premise that we would always be the best global guarantor of democracy finds itself in need of an “In case of emergency, break glass” back-up plan.
The American entourage at Davos came bearing a single message: “We will do what we want, and you’re not gonna do jack s--t about it.” And here’s the thing–it rings true.
Unless and until they get their act together to deal with the U.S. as an aggressor, our allies and trading partners will continue to be abused by our delusional narcissist-in-chief and his scowling band of ghouls. The Stephen Miller theory of international order is simple and ruthless: the Western Hemisphere is now the property of the United States of America. All of it. When Trump declared himself the “Acting President of Venezuela,” it was both a troll and not-a-troll. It was a declaration of intent. Not to literally run the country, but to plant his flag on his territorial ambitions: everything from the Arctic Circle to the tip of South America is now—for all intents and purposes—ours. Well, his.
One can see why Canada might have a problem with that.
The Davos attendees were restrained in their response to Trump’s blustering speech. One CNBC reporter in the audience relayed that an audience member muttered, “This is scary,” during the portion that laid out his plans for Greenland. (Much was made of Denmark’s lack of “gratitude” for the United States for our support during the Second World War. Apparently, that gratitude should include gifting us with the world’s largest island.)
“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it,” Trump declared. “You can say ‘yes,’ and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say ‘no,’ and we will remember.”
Michael Corleone couldn’t have said it better.
Trump’s presence at Davos drove home the point that the United States of America is currently headed by a wannabe capo dei capi—boss of bosses. During his first administration, his constant flattering of strongman authoritarians spoke to his desire to be one himself. In his second administration, he’s trying to make those dreams a reality. “Sometimes you need a dictator,” he said in comments following his speech.
The world is receiving wake-up call after wake-up call, and yet they keep hitting the snooze button. America is now a threat. It is a threat to peace, democracy, and human liberty. That threat is both domestic and international. Trump’s desire for total control may only be tempered by his incompetence to achieve it, but the world shouldn’t rely on his ineptitude to save them.
As much as the well-heeled lapdogs at Davos prefer to think of themselves as insulated from the troubles of the hoi polloi, I would suggest that is not the case. The U.S. is coming for them. For their money. Their positions. Their global influence. The people they represent will suffer the most, of course, but they will not be protected from the worst of it should the worst come to pass. Enjoy the bubbles and blini, guys. It may be your last.
