Here’s what we learned:
GEOPOLITICS
Europe learned the value of standing up to Trump. His claim to Greenland crossed all red lines of territorial sovereignty and European resistance, possibly aided by the subsequent collapse of the financial markets, was seen as one of the reasons why he withdrew.
But Europe’s confidence in its transatlantic relationship with Washington has been seriously damaged, and its leaders are examining how to act more quickly when the next crisis arises.
“Efforts are being made to advance European decision-making. We are probably too slow,” a European Union official said.
Many European leaders and executives said they found the Trump administration’s approach offensive and rude, even as some said the US president had raised legitimate issues.
Ukraine was initially overshadowed at Davos, but when Trump announced a deal on Greenland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stepped in for talks.
A peace deal appears elusive, despite U.S., Ukrainian and Russian officials talking of progress and Zelenskiy saying territorial issues remain unresolved.
In another sign of the Trump administration’s influence on the agenda, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev landed in Davos on Tuesday for talks with US officials — the first Russian official to visit Davos since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Dmitriev held talks at the USA House, without attending the Forum itself.
The leaders openly debated not only whether Trump would attack Iran, but also what would happen next. Would the regime crumble? And if that were the case, who would own the consequences? Trump’s unpredictability once again became a defining feature of the event.
MACROECONOMY AND MARKETS
U.S. threats on the eve of the meeting to impose tariffs on European allies over opposition to Trump’s ambition to take over Greenland stoked trade tensions and heightened concerns among some CEOs that Europe can no longer rely on the U.S.
“If you talk to CEOs today, what do they want? Stability, predictability and the rule of law. I would say those are in short supply,” Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said during a debate on tariffs.
Trump’s push has fueled arguments from those calling for countries and companies to diversify trade away from an increasingly protectionist US and trade more with each other.
Financial services companies were hoping for more business activity and growth this year as they faced potential disruptions from US policy, geopolitics, artificial intelligence and financial technology. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned that a proposal to cap interest rates on credit cards would amount to an economic disaster, while other bankers said they were trying to shape the government’s policies on affordability.
Crypto industry executives spoke about the potential of stablecoins and blockchain technology to disrupt the financial world. Some bankers said they are experimenting with the new technology, while others remained wary.
Meanwhile, the macroeconomic outlook, questions about the independence of the US Federal Reserve and fears of bubbles in AI and other assets weighed on investors’ minds.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The tech industry came to Davos in full force, with rare appearances from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.
AI startup Anthropic this week set up office space on Davos’ main drag, aiming to grow sales of its business. And in contrast to the skepticism of late 2025, executives said they were putting aside concerns that the market was overvaluing AI companies.
While jobs would disappear, they said new ones would be created. AI would be an excuse to justify layoffs, not necessarily the cause, two company executives told Reuters.
But union leaders feared AI would destroy jobs and lead to greater inequality, with demanding regulations and training.
ENERGY
Big Oil returned to Davos with a vengeance after a year into Trump’s presidency, when he ordered a pause on wind farms and told American companies to drill for more oil at home and abroad.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told a panel that global oil production must more than double to meet rising energy demand. In doing so, he challenges the widely held view among analysts that demand could peak in the next 20 years.
Wright also said that Europe and the US state of California were wasting too much money on green energy investments. The Trump administration is radically changing the narrative and the oil industry is happy about it, an oil executive said. But Elon Musk, who cut ties with Trump on renewable energy, said the US could produce enough solar energy to meet all its electricity needs, including growing demand from the proliferation of Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers.
“You could take a small corner of Utah, Nevada or New Mexico – a very small percentage of the US area – and generate all the electricity that the US uses,” he added.
“Unfortunately, the tariff barriers for solar are extremely high and that makes the economics of deploying solar artificially high,” Musk said.
DEFENSE
The world breathed a sigh of relief after Trump spoke of no military solution to his demands for Greenland. But some executives pinned their hopes on higher European and U.S. defense spending, including construction projects and hiring.
Trump also spoke about a secret sonic weapon that he said was used during the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
Russia and China will have to go back to the drawing board, Trump said. Russian secret services are investigating the case, the Kremlin said.
Published on January 24, 2026
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