Trump rips Europe at Davos for wrong ‘direction,’ points to migration and spending

President Donald Trump blasted European nations for not being “recognizable” at the World Economic Forum in Davos Wednesday. 

“I don’t want to insult anybody and say I don’t recognize it,” Trump said during his special address Wednesday. “And that’s not in a positive way. That’s in a very negative way. And I love Europe and I want to see Europe do good, but it’s not heading in the right direction.”

“In recent decades, it became conventional wisdom in Washington and European capitals that the only way to grow a modern Western economy was through ever-increasing government spending, unchecked mass migration, and endless foreign imports,” Trump said. 

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Trump then said that issues like energy, trade, immigration and economic growth must be “central concerns to anyone who wants to see a strong and united West.” 

Trump’s comments come as tensions between the U.S. and European allies have escalated, after Trump has renewed his ambitions to acquire Greenland and has threatened to impose tariffs on European allies who don’t back those efforts.

In response to a group of NATO members dispatching troops to Greenland after Trump resurrected his plans to take over the island, the president announced Saturday that those countries would be subjected to a 10% tariff on all goods starting Feb. 1. 

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Those tariffs would increase to 25% in June, until a deal is reached for Trump to secure Greenland, according to Trump. 

Trump’s comments in Davos echo previous statements Vice President JD Vance made at the Munich Security Conference in February 2025. There, Vance cautioned that Russia and China don’t pose as great a threat to European nations as the “threat from within,” citing censorship and illegal immigration. 

Additionally, Vance said that European voters didn’t endorse opening the “floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.”

European leaders bucked at Vance’s comments, and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said shortly after Vance delivered the statement that he perceived the statements as a comparison to “conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes.”

Trump previously attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, twice during his first term, according to the State Department’s records. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.