WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the “Golden Age” of America had begun and that it was “back and open for business” while addressing business and political leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump, who joined the gathering via video from the White House, talked about declaring a national energy emergency as one of his first acts as president “to unlock the liquid gold under our feet and pave the way for rapid approvals of new energy infrastructure.”
“The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we’re going to use it,” he said.
He also said he was going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.
“If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine War would end immediately,” he said. “Right now, the price is high enough that that war will continue. You gotta bring down the oil price. You gotta end that war.”
The first day of the world leaders’ meeting on Monday coincided with the inauguration of Trump and the organizers were bracing for the president’s policies and their influence on the global economy.
That includes threats to impose major tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada, reevaluating military alliances and asking member countries of NATO to pay up more, and the implications of pulling out of international environmental treaties such as the Obama-era Paris Agreement, which Trump announced on his first day in office.
Trump also said he wanted to see interest rates come down, setting himself up on a possible collision course with the Federal Reserve, the agency which sets monetary policy- such as interest rates – independent of the White House.
“I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately,” he said. “And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us all over.”
The Federal Reserve implemented a zero interest-rate policy between March 2020 to March 2022 as the country was dealing with the COVID pandemic. After that, the Fed raised interest rates 11 times to curb inflation. Eventually, as inflation eased, the Fed cut rates three times last year.
Trump also dangled the possibility of the “lowest taxes” for international businesses investing in America.
“Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth,” he said. “But if you don’t make your product in America … you’ll have to pay a tariff.”
Trump began his second term in office just after a ceasefire was announced in Gaza and as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is set to enter its third year next month.
The World Economic Forum’s organizers said it had the “potential to reshape norms and institutions related to international cooperation.” Their five-day event has in attendance over 50 heads of state, over 3,000 public and private sector leaders hundreds of top government officials, according to organizers.
On Wednesday, Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “stop this ridiculous” war with Ukraine or face consequences.
Trump said he would be forced to “put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia” to the United States in a post on Truth Social.
“I’m not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin,” he said, saying the warning was a “favor” to Russia, whose economy he said was “failing.”
“Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with,” he said.
On Thursday, Trump told the world leaders he had taken “each and every step” to reverse the “radical left” policies of the past administration.
“Under our leadership, America is back and open for business,” he said.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal.
