The specter of a second Donald Trump presidency is looming over the World Economic Forum in Davos.
World leaders gathered for the annual forum this week in the Swiss Alps, where power brokers expressed concerns that Trump appears destined to win the Republican presidential nomination and potentially be re-elected to a second term, reported Politico.
“If we are to draw lessons from history, looking at the way he ran the first four years of his mandate, it’s clearly a threat,” said Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank. “Just look at the trade tariffs, the commitment to NATO, the fight against climate change. In these three areas alone in the past, American interests have not been aligned with those of Europe."
The ex-president regularly mingled with wealthy financiers during his real estate career but positioned himself against elites when he entered politics, although he became the first U.S. president in 18 years to attend the forum when he showed up in 2018 – and stunned European leaders with threats and boasts.
“You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you,” Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
“By the way, NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO,” Trump also said, according to Breton. "And by the way, you owe me $400 billion, because you didn’t pay, you Germans, what you had to pay for defense.”
The former president's antipathy toward NATO remains a concern for many at Davos, and some believe Russian president Vladimir Putin is banking on a Trump return and ruling out peace discussions on Ukraine until the U.S. election is decided.
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“He has made it clear that for him, the partner for possible negotiations is none other than the United States,” Czech President Petr Pavel, adding that Putin may try to negotiate directly with Trump if he were to win, "Regardless of what Ukraine or the rest of Europe thinks.”
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and former Trump administration officials Gary Cohn and Anthony Scaramucci are at Davos this week, and the former president's allies said others in attendance were right to be "afraid" of a possible second term.
“If Trump stands for anything," said Sen. J.D. Vance, "I think it's the rejection of their ideology, of the material benefits that come from it.”
