Trump arrives in Switzerland, where his quest to own Greenland could
overshadow his other goals
[January 21, 2026]
By JOSH BOAK, WILL WEISSERT and AAMER MADHANI
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) — President Donald Trump has landed in
Switzerland following hours of delay after a minor electrical issue
aboard Air Force forced a return to Washington to switch aircraft.
Trump on Wednesday is set to address the World Economic Forum in the
Swiss Alps, where his ambitions to wrest control of Greenland from NATO
ally Denmark could tear relations with European allies and overshadow
his original plan to use his appearance at the gathering of global
elites to address affordability issues back home.
Trump comes to the international forum at Davos on the heels of
threatening tariffs on Denmark and seven other allies unless they
negotiate a transfer of the semi-autonomous territory — a concession the
European leaders indicated they are not willing to make. Trump said the
tariffs would start at 10% next month and climb to 25% in June, rates
that would be high enough to increase costs and slow growth, potentially
hurting Trump’s efforts to tamp down the high cost of living.
The president in a text message that circulated among European officials
this week also linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s
decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize. In the message, he told
Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, that he no longer felt “an
obligation to think purely of Peace.”
In the midst of an unusual stretch of testing the United States'
relations with longtime allies, it seems uncertain what might transpire
during Trump's two days in Switzerland.
On Tuesday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a Davos panel he
and Trump, a Republican, planned to deliver a stark message:
“Globalization has failed the West and the United States of America.
It’s a failed policy,” he said.
“This will be an interesting trip,” Trump told reporters as he departed
the White House on Tuesday evening for his flight to Davos. “I have no
idea what’s going to happen, but you are well represented.”
In fact, his trip to Davos got off to a difficult start. There was a
small electrical problem on Air Force One, leading the crew to turn
around the plane about 30 minutes into the flight out of an abundance of
caution. That pushed the president's arrival in Switzerland back hours.
Wall Street wobbled on Tuesday as investors weighed Trump's new tariff
threats and escalating tensions with European allies. The S&P 500 fell
2.1%, its biggest drop since October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
dropped 1.8%. The Nasdaq composite slumped 2.4%.
“It’s clear that we are reaching a time of instability, of imbalances,
both from the security and defense point of view, and economic point of
view,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in his address to the
forum. Macron made no direct mention of Trump but urged fellow leaders
to reject acceptance of “the law of the strongest.”
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned
that should Trump move forward with the tariffts, the bloc's response
“will be unflinching, united and proportional." She pointedly suggested
that Trump's new tariff threat could also undercut a U.S.-EU trade
framework reached this summer that the Trump administration worked hard
to to seal.
“The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal
last July,” von der Leyen said in Davos. “And in politics as in business
— a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean
something.”
Why Trump is talking about housing in Davos
Trump, ahead of the address, said he planned on using his Davos
appearance to talk about making housing more attainable and other
affordability issues that are top priorities for Americans.
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the USA house during
the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
But Trump’s Greenland tariff threat could disrupt the U.S. economy
if it blows up the trade truce reached last year between the U.S.
and the EU, said Scott Lincicome, a tariff critic and vice president
on economic issues at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
“Significantly undermining investors' confidence in the U.S. economy
in the longer term would likely increase interest rates and thus
make homes less affordable,” Lincicome said.
Trump also on Tuesday warned Europe against retaliatory action for
the coming new tariffs.
“Anything they do with us, I’ll just meet it,” Trump said on
NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight.” “All I have to do is meet it,
and it’s going to go ricocheting backward.”
Davos — a forum known for its appeal to the global elite — is an odd
backdrop for a speech on affordability. But White House officials
have promoted it as a moment for Trump to try to rekindle populist
support back in the U.S., where many voters who backed him in 2024
view affordability as a major problem. About six in 10 U.S. adults
now say that Trump has hurt the cost of living, according to the
latest survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs
Research.
U.S. home sales are at a 30-year low with rising prices and elevated
mortgage rates keeping many prospective buyers out of the market. So
far, Trump has announced plans to buy $200 billion in mortgage
securities to help lower interest rates on home loans, and has
called for a ban on large financial companies buying houses.
Trump will promote his ‘Board of Peace’
The White House has said Trump plans to meet with leaders on the
sidelines of the forum, after he gives his keynote address. There
are more than 60 other heads of state attending.
On Thursday, Trump plans to have an event to talk about the “Board
of Peace,” a new body meant to oversee the end of the Israel-Hamas
war in Gaza, and possibly take on a broader mandate, potentially
rivaling the United Nations.
Fewer than 10 leaders have accepted invitations to join the group so
far, including a handful of leaders considered to be anti-democratic
authoritarians. Several of America’s main European partners have
declined or been noncommittal, including Britain, France and
Germany.
Trump on Tuesday told reporters that his peace board “might”
eventually make the U.N. obsolete but insisted he wants to see the
international body stick around.
“I believe you got to let the U.N. continue, because the potential
is so great," Trump said.
___
Weissert and Madhani reported from Washington. Michelle L. Price
contributed from Washington.
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