ISTANBUL
US President Donald Trump will visit the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday and Thursday amid rising tensions with European partners over Greenland, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday.
"It's been a busy year, and the president will be here on Wednesday and Thursday to sum up the year, talk about his thoughts going forward," Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of the annual gathering in the Swiss Alpine resort.
He stressed that Trump will convey that “America First” does not mean America alone, saying the US president will demonstrate "what American leadership in the world looks like.”
Bessent dismissed suggestions Trump's Greenland push is motivated by his public pursuit of a Nobel Peace Prize, calling it a "complete canard." He said the president views Greenland as a "strategic asset" for America and will not "outsource ... hemispheric security to anyone else."
In a letter reported Monday, Trump told Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store he no longer feels obligated to focus exclusively on peace after “your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize” and reiterated demands for US control over Greenland.
The self-governing Danish territory has attracted Trump’s interest due to its strategic location, vast mineral resources, and concerns about Russian and Chinese activity.
On potential European retaliation to Trump's Saturday announcement of 10% tariffs on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland starting on Feb. 1, rising to 25% in June, Bessent said such action would be "very unwise."
"I think everyone should take the president at his word," he added.
Davos is the informal name for the WEF annual meeting, held in January in Switzerland, a major global gathering where political leaders, heads of global companies, academics, and public figures discuss economic, geopolitical, and social issues.