Trump has everyone at the World Economic Forum in Davos guessing
Donald Trump likes to discomfort his enemies.
Not to mention his friends, his partners, business adversaries, celebrity critics, anyone, in fact, who could end up on the other side of a deal.
As president of the world’s largest economy, that makes for a long list, many of them in Davos on Tuesday trying to make sense of what his second term will mean, and not getting very far.
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The World Economic Forum is a body that likes to think it has the answers. The annual conference attracts leaders from business, politics and civil society, gathering to share their wisdom and cut deals on the side.
Less than 48 hours into Trump II not only are they struggling for answers, they’re yet not clear what the question is.
For European political leaders, already exposed to soaring US growth rates, Trump’s still-vague threats to “tax and tariff” could pose a fundamental threat to economic cooperation and stability.
In the absence of firm policy, they promised to work with Trump, but not at all costs.
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European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen conceded that the harmonious world order imagined at the turn of the century is dead – “Instead we have a new era of harsh geo-strategic competition.”
The race is one, she said, but not to the bottom. “We will be pragmatic but we will always stand by our principles… because that is the European way.”
Outgoing German chancellor Olaf Scholz, already a victim of the European populist wave, acknowledged the uncertainty.
“President Trump and his government will keep the world in suspense in the coming years,” he said. “We can and will deal with that, without unnecessary agitation and outrage, but also without false ingratiation or telling people what they want to hear.”
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A glance at the tech billionaires lined up in front of the cabinet at the inauguration, behind only the Trump family, suggests that may be wishful thinking.
Ukraine
The most coherent response came from the European leader with most to lose.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked not what Trump will do to help defeat Russia, but what Europe will do to remain relevant.
He painted a picture of a US administration striking deals with Russia and China while Europe looked on, a fundamental challenge and a call to arms that made the continents’ leaders shift in their seats.
For business, the implications are less grave but no less knotty.
Business reaction
Bankers and investors are braced for the upside of a president who will measure success by the stock market as much as poll ratings, The crypto crowd meanwhile have a spring in their snowshoes.
Others hope economic reality will outrun rhetoric.
In the face of Trump’s rejection of renewables and a promise to “drill baby, drill”, Henrik Anderson, chief executive of Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, was not being blown off course
“The US is our largest market, I listened to most of it [the inauguration] before I went to bed last night, and I slept well overnight,” he told Sky News.
“This is the new administration coming into play, some of the legislation will either change or continue, but what I think we will see is that creating the energy he needs will also create jobs.”
Others are not so sure. “F****** hell,” said one prominent British chief executive with a shake of the head.
Donald Trump has everyone guessing, which is just the way he likes it.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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