Trump uses Davos speech to accuse oil producers of prolonging Ukraine war | Donald Trump

Donald Trump has made a combative return to the world stage, accusing oil producers of prolonging the war in Ukraine by failing to reduce prices and threatening to impose tariffs on all US imports.

In a typically blustering online speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the new president called on Saudi Arabia and the oil producing cartel, OPEC, to reduce the cost of oil, in order to choke off oil revenues. Russia and put an end to the conflict in Ukraine. .

“We need to reduce it, which, frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t do before the election. That didn’t show much love. That surprises me,” Trump said. “If the price fell, the war between Russia and Ukraine would immediately end. »

He added: “They should have done this a long time ago. In fact, they are very responsible, to some extent, for what is happening. Millions of lives are lost.

Trump also appeared to flag drastic tariffs on imports to the United States, warning: “If you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then quite simply, you will have to pay tariffs – different amounts, but customs duties. .”

He reiterated his call for NATO countries to significantly increase their defense spending to reduce their dependence on the United States.

“I will also ask all NATO countries to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP, which it should have been years ago,” he said. He said the decline in spending in recent years had been “unfair to the United States, but many things have been unfair for many years to the United States.”

In many areas of economic and foreign policy, Trump has also been on a collision course with the Federal Reserve by urging it to cut interest rates “immediately” to support the U.S. and global economy.

“I will demand that interest rates be lowered immediately. And likewise, they should be abandoned all over the world. Interest rates should follow us everywhere,” he said.

In a speech riddled with grievances, Trump also complained about what he called “unfair” trade relations with China – which is expected to face the harshest tariffs.

“All we want is fairness. We just want a level playing field. We don’t want to take advantage of it. We have massive deficits with China. (Joe) Biden let the situation get out of control,” he said.

Tariffs are import taxes on goods, which are often passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. But Trump insisted his tariff policy would “push hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down the debt.”

He has already announced plans to levy taxes on goods from Mexico, Canada and China, and is also considering penalizing imports from the EU. But his latest remarks seem to suggest they would be applied across the board.

Trump received a mixed response from Davos attendees, with some clearly complaining when he promised to abandon equality policies.

In response to carefully selected questions from business leaders, the US president denied that his tariff policy could raise prices and contribute to inflation.

“I think it will actually bring down inflation. This will create jobs. We’re going to have a lot of jobs. We are going to welcome a lot of businesses,” he said.

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Trump’s call for lower interest rates is unlikely to be welcomed by the U.S. central bank, which is independent of the government.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell recently insisted he would not resign if Trump asked him to. The new US president has already criticized Fed governors, calling them “idiots”.

The bank cut interest rates three times last year, but financial markets expect fewer than two cuts this year, and many analysts expect the rates to be inflationary. The next Fed meeting will take place on January 29 and could provoke an early clash with the White House.

During his 45 minutes on the big screen, the US president also made a series of false statements, including denying the reality of the climate crisis and claiming that “many more people” had died in Ukraine than had been announced.

Trump also digressed at length about the benefits of “good, clean coal” and claimed to have discussed a sweeping nuclear disarmament deal with Moscow and Beijing during his first presidency.

He appeared by video link in the vast hall of the Swiss ski resort’s conference center, where discussions have been dominated all week by the potential impact of his policies on the global economy.

Earlier Thursday, populist Argentine President Javier Milei told the Davos audience that he saw himself and Trump as part of a growing group of world leaders opposing “woke ideology.”

“Little by little, an alliance is being built between countries that want to be free,” he said in a speech that also attacked feminism.