Trump to unveil 'Board of Peace' at Davos after Greenland backtrack: due to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky afterwards (LINK) 21 January 2026

Zelensky dashes to Davos for high-stakes Trump huddle — (LINK)

AP: Trump is rolling out his Board of Peace at Davos at a time when US leadership is being questioned — (LINK)

— Some 35 countries had agreed to sign on to the project, a senior administration official told reporters. Norway and Sweden have indicated that they won't participate, after France also said no. Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said "the time has not yet come to accept the invitation," according to the STA news agency, with the main concern being the board's mandate may be too broad and could undermine international order based on the U.N. Charter.


NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at World Economic Forum, Davos: 22 January 2026 (LINK)

— "For the United States to stay safe, you need a safe Arctic, a safe Atlantic, and a safe Europe. My predecessors always took the view that they should not comment on [tensions] in public. So, sorry, no comments from me on Greenland. Statements from me will not add anything here."

— When it comes to the Arctic, I think President Trump is right, other leaders in NATO are right: we need to defend the Arctic. We know that the sea lanes are opening up. We know that China and Russia are increasingly active in the Arctic. There's only one country bordering on the Arctic outside NATO, that's Russia. There is a ninth country, which is China, which is increasingly active in the Arctic region.

— "Do you really think that without Donald Trump, eight big economies in Europe, including Spain and Italy and Belgium, Canada, by the way, also outside Europe, would have come to 2% [of GDP on defence] in 2025 when they were only on 1.5% at the beginning of the year? No way. Without Donald Trump, this would never have happened. He has forced us in Europe to step up, to face the consequences that we have to take care more of our own defence."

— Trump "said last night in his presser that he was doubtful whether the Europeans would come to the rescue if Article 5 would be triggered. I tell him: yes, they will. And they did on the 11th of September — 9/11 — in 2001 when, for the first and only time, Article 5 was triggered."

— "In the 1980s in Afghanistan, the Soviets lost 20,000 in 10 years. Now they lose 30,000 in one month [in Ukraine]. Ukraine should be our number one priority, and then we can discuss on all the issues, including Greenland. But it should be Ukraine first because it is crucial for our European and US security. [...] Russia is on a war economy footing. They spend 40% of the state budget on defence."


CNN: Trump's antagonistic speech in Davos — 5 takeaways — (LINK)

— Trump complained relentlessly about the United States being taken advantage of by Europe, and wondered incredulously why his attempt to take control of Greenland was being met with resistance. He castigated European leaders for making their continent unrecognizable through what he cast as uncontrolled migration and radical economic policies. And he speculated aloud about NATO's willingness to come to the defense of the United States, without mentioning that the one time the alliance invoked its collective defense treaty was at the request of the Americans after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

— Hours after his speech, there was potential better news for Europe. Trump announced he'd reached a "framework of a future deal" on Greenland following a meeting with the NATO secretary general, and that the tariffs he'd threatened to impose next month were off.

Rolling Stone: Trump in Davos: 'Sometimes You Need a Dictator'. The president delivered an erratic address to the World Economic Forum, pushing for the U.S. to take control of Greenland which he referred to as "Iceland" multiple times22 January 2026 (LINK)


Fact-checking Trump's Davos speech: number of false assertions22 January 2026 (LINK)

— He said that after World War Two "we gave Greenland back to Denmark," adding: "How stupid were we to do that?" But it was not America's to give back.

Buzzfeed: 12 really, really awkward moments from Donald Trump's Davos speech. George Conway: "Today is the most humiliating day in the history of the United States. At least until tomorrow."22 January 2026 (LINK)

— He told people in Switzerland (a mainly German-speaking country) that they would all "be speaking German" if the US hadn't been there during World War II.

— He told the crowd Switzerland was "only good because of us."

— He said that the people in "Iceland" called him "daddy."


CNN: Trump says rare earths are part of his Greenland deal. It's 'completely bonkers' — (LINK)

Stocks rebound from big sell-off after Trump rules out military action on Greenland: Live updates (LINK) 21 January 2026

Heckler who booed Howard Lutnick during Davos event revealed to be Al Gore21 January 2026 (LINK)

— Lutnick was speaking at an invite-only VIP dinner event hosted by billionaire BlackRock boss Larry Fink when a heckler, now identified as climate change advocate and former Vice President Al Gore, started booing the former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO. Gore's reaction came after Lutnick attacked Europe in his remarks, prompting European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde to reportedly walk out of the event.


Heather Cox Richardson: Reacting to Trump in Davos — and the ICE scandal at home — (LINK) — 21 January 2026

— "The president of the United States [gave] a virulently racist, insulting, rambling speech in which he complained that people call him a dictator but that 'sometimes you need a dictator'."


5 Top ICE 'corporate collaborators' saved $19 billion in taxes under Trump21 January 2026 (LINK)


Newsom barred from public address in Switzerland by the Trump administration21 January 2026 (LINK)

— "Under pressure from the White House and State Department, USA House (a church acting as the official US pavilion) is now denying entry to Governor Newsom after Fortune — the official media partner — invited him to speak," the governor's office said.