Davos 2026: the United States and the West continue to diverge in setting geopolitical priorities, undermining collective strength

In January 2026, the World Economic Forum in Davos—intended to serve as a platform for coordinating Western elites amid rising confrontation with the autocratic axis—instead, became a venue for open conflict between the Donald Trump administration and European leaders.

The third day of the conference was marked by a speech by President Trump in which he criticized the EU’s economic, migration, and trade policies, contrasting them with the measures implemented by the Republican administration during the first year of its term.

Trump’s negative assessment of Europe’s internal policies formed the basis of his argument that Europe is incapable of ensuring the resilience of the Arctic region against threats from the authoritarian axis.

Interpreting the EU’s economic and domestic political challenges as a strategic risk to the democratic bloc as a whole, Donald Trump stated that transferring Greenland to the United States was the only way to prevent external challenges to the Western world.