Trump’s Davos Speech Draws Scrutiny as Fact-Checkers Challenge Key Claims

Former U.S. President Donald Trump addressed political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, delivering a speech that portrayed his administration’s policies as transformative. However, fact-checking reveals numerous inaccuracies and exaggerations throughout his remarks.

In one of the more contentious moments of his address, Trump claimed the United States once owned Greenland and “gave it back” to Denmark after World War II. “After the war, which we won, without us, you’d all be speaking German and a little Japanese. After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that?” Trump told the audience.

Historical records directly contradict this assertion. Denmark formally established Greenland as a colony in 1814, and in 1916, the U.S. explicitly recognized Denmark’s sovereignty over the entire island through a bilateral agreement that also facilitated Washington’s purchase of the Danish Virgin Islands. During World War II, the U.S. and Danish authorities signed an agreement allowing American forces to establish military bases on Greenland to prevent German control, but this agreement acknowledged Denmark’s continued sovereignty.

Trump’s economic claims also faced scrutiny. He painted a picture of a booming U.S. economy under his leadership, stating, “Growth is exploding. Productivity is surging. Investment is soaring. Incomes are rising.”

Economic data suggests a more nuanced reality. While the U.S. economy continues to expand at a steady pace with historically low unemployment, hiring growth has slowed significantly compared to previous years. Inflation, though lower than post-pandemic peaks, remains elevated at 2.7 percent as of December 2025.

On consumer costs, Trump claimed, “Grocery prices, energy prices, airfares, mortgage rates, rent and car payments are all coming down, and they’re coming down fast.” This statement only partially aligns with economic data. Mortgage rates have indeed fallen from about 7 percent in January 2025 to just above 6 percent by mid-January 2026. Airfares and vehicle prices have also declined.

However, grocery prices have continued to rise overall, at a pace similar to former President Biden’s final year in office. Energy costs present a mixed picture, with electricity prices nearly 7 percent higher than a year ago, while gasoline prices have fallen nationally to below $2.80 per gallon.

NATO funding was another area where Trump’s claims diverged from reality. He stated, “We pay for NATO. We paid for many years, until I came along, in my opinion, 100 percent of NATO, because they weren’t paying their bills.”

Official NATO figures show that in 2025, the United States contributed approximately 16 percent of the alliance’s common budget. Currently, 31 of NATO’s 32 member states meet the alliance’s guideline of spending at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense.

Trump also claimed to have “settled eight wars,” citing conflicts involving Israel-Hamas, Israel-Iran, Egypt-Ethiopia, India-Pakistan, Serbia-Kosovo, Rwanda-Congo, Armenia-Azerbaijan, and Cambodia-Thailand. A closer examination reveals that many of these conflicts remain unresolved or have resumed. Active fighting continues in Gaza, while recent clashes have erupted between Cambodia and Thailand, as well as between Congolese forces and Rwanda-backed rebel groups.

On renewable energy, Trump criticized European wind power investments, claiming, “The more windmills a country has, the more money that country loses and the worse that country’s doing.” Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration contradicts this assessment, showing onshore wind power as among the least expensive sources of new electricity generation at around $30 per megawatt hour, compared to roughly $65 for natural gas plants.

Trump also incorrectly stated that China doesn’t use the wind turbines it manufactures. In reality, China is the world’s largest wind power market, accounting for 70 percent of all new wind installations globally in 2024, with cumulative capacity exceeding 520 gigawatts.

His claims about European energy production contained partial truths but significant exaggerations. While German electricity generation did decline by approximately 25 percent between 2017 and 2025, electricity prices increased by about 35 percent, not the 64 percent Trump cited.

As has been consistent since leaving office in 2021, Trump again claimed without evidence that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged,” despite multiple investigations by Republican officials at federal and state levels finding no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

The speech, which kicked off Trump’s second year back in the White House, highlighted his administration’s policy priorities while drawing immediate scrutiny from fact-checkers and analysts.