President Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, virtually on Thursday, his first major appearance at an international event since he returned to the White House earlier this week.

Over the course of 45 minutes, Trump took aim at European regulators he said were too tough on U.S. tech companies, oil producers he said were keeping prices too high and big banks he said were refusing service to conservatives.

Here’s CNBC’s overview of remarks made during Trump’s address.

— Dan Mangan, Christina Wilkie

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday continued to take aim at the European Union for what he claims is an unequal trade relationship.

“From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly,” Trump said in a virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

After his inauguration on Monday, Trump’s second term has been a key topic of conversation at Davos this year — particularly given his threats of trade tariffs on the EU, China, Mexico, Canada and beyond.

Read more here.

— Jenni Reid

Crude oil futures fell on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he will ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to reduce prices.

Trump claimed the Saudis and OPEC were responsible for fueling the war in Ukraine through higher oil prices. He said the war would end if crude prices were slashed.

“I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil,” Trump said in an address to the World Economic Forum. “If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately.”

Read more here.

— Spencer Kimball

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday touted Saudi Arabia’s pledge to invest $600 billion in America in the next four years, while suggesting the figure should actually be higher.

“It’s also reported today in the papers that Saudi Arabia will be investing at least $600 billion in America,” Trump told an audience at Davos via video call, while mentioning major announcements of investment plans by foreign companies into the country.

“But I’ll be asking the crown prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around 1 trillion. I think they’ll do that, because we’ve been very good to them,” he said, referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Read more here.

— Natasha Turak

President Donald Trump lobbed his first volley at the Federal Reserve, saying Thursday that he will apply pressure to bring down interest rates.

Speaking to an assembly of global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the new president in a wide-ranging policy speech did not mention the Fed by name but made clear he would seek lower rates.

“I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately,” Trump said. “And likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us all over.”

Read more here.

— Jeff Cox

There will be a “Europe first” approach when it comes to artificial intelligence, Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy at the European Commission, told CNBC on Thursday.

Séjourné suggested the European Union would not abandon the sector, which he said would be a big part of the future, according to a CNBC translation. There are various unicorn companies in Europe, he noted, saying they should be supported to grow and scale, which currently is an issue in Europe.

European tech CEOs have long been calling for a more level playing field with their U.S. counterparts, with some European companies moving operations stateside as they believe the environment there is more favorable for them.

Séjourné on Thursday said the goal was to create regulations and financing to enable such companies to be competitive on a global level.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Ralph Recto, secretary of finance of the Philippines, discusses possible trade with the U.S. and the Western allies at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

A “global hegemony” of left-wing politics and ideology is “starting to crumble,” Argentina’s firebrand President Javier Milei told the World Economic Forum on Thursday.

“What once seemed like a global hegemony of the ‘woke’ left in politics, educational institutions, in the media, in supranational organizations or even in forums like Davos, has begun to crumble,” right-wing leader Milei, who took office in 2023, told business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland.

The divisive ‘woke’ term typically refers to supporting social justice issues and political activism.

The Argentinian politician, who casts himself in a similar vein to U.S. President Donald Trump, said he had been forming alliances with other like-minded figures and leaders.

“Over the course of this year, I have found allies in this fight for the cause of freedom in every corner of the world, from the amazing [tech billionaire] Elon Musk to that fierce Italian lady [Prime Minister] Giorgia Meloni, from [President Nayib] Bukele in El Salvador to Viktor Orban in Hungary,” he said, also namedropping Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump among his allies.

“Slowly, an international alliance has been forming among all those nations who want to be free and believe in the ideas of liberty,” he said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Lombard Odier managing partner Hubert Keller said he continues to see huge opportunity for investment in the green transition despite recent moves by the new U.S. administration to roll back green initiatives.

“Are we going to continue to talk about climate initiatives? Are we still going to think about how to fund it? The answer is absolutely yes. The economy is changing,” he said.

Asked by CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick and Karen Tso whether he thought fears of capital withdrawal from climate initiatives were overdone, he said “I think so.”

Since taking office Monday, President Donald Trump has set to work rescinding a series of green programs, including signing an executive order to pull the U.S. out of the world’s biggest coordinated effort to tackle rising temperatures.

“The green transition is a much bigger technological revolution. And betting against tech has always been the wrong thing to do,” he said.

— Karen Gilchrist

Watch CNBC’s interview with Matthew Chamberlain, CEO of the London Metal Exchange, at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Christian Sinding, CEO of Swedish private equity firm EQT, said Thursday that the market for M&A and big business deals was “continuing to improve.”

“We had a record year in 2024 we did over $20 billion of investments,” Sinding told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick on the ground at Davos.

“We did more than $10 billion of exits, and that’s kind of building up to 2025 where I think a lot of the market participants are now ready to transact, whether it’s private equity or family offices or strategic buyers. And of course, if you look at the global capital markets, the IPO market is wide open. The credit markets are strong, so we’re fairly positive looking into the next year.”

— Chloe Taylor

Institutions such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, need to ask themselves why many countries are shifting toward protectionism, the head of the Paris-based group told CNBC on Thursday.

“It’s in nobody’s interest to have a trade war … as an organization we’re very much in favor of open markets and the sustainable expansion of global trade within a rules-based trading system,” Mathias Cormann said.

“But we need to ask ourselves the question as to why some of these measures are now being taken, and why we have seen over the last 15 years or so, increasing instances of protectionism.”

Cormann continued, “It is true that globalization hasn’t worked as well as it could have and should have for everyone.”

“We understand that there are real issues that need to be addressed, and we ignore them at our peril.”

The OECD chief also noted that it was early days for the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump — who is threatening widespread global tariffs — and that it remained to be seen how “issues are ultimately worked through.”

— Jenni Reid

“Mexico will be a winner” regardless of the challenges thrown up by the new U.S. administration, according to the chair of Spanish multinational lender BBVA.

Carlos Torres Vila, BBVA chairman, said the Latin American country has structural economic advantages that will set it apart despite the threat of trade tariffs by President Donald Trump.

“There is always uncertainty, but Mexico is a clear winner of what’s going on because of the structural advantages of Mexico,” Torres Vila told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” at Davos. “Its labor costs are a fraction of the U.S, and that’s a structural factor.”

He also pointed to the country’s size, its demographic advantage of having a largely young population, and its geographical proximity to the United States as competitive advantages.

“No matter what happens with trade, immigration, drugs, etc — which are all topics that need to be resolved — Mexico will be a winner,” he added.

Earlier this week, Trump said that tariffs could be levied against Mexico and Canada as soon as early February.

“We’re thinking in terms of 25% [levies] on Mexico and Canada, because they’re allowing a vast number of people” over the border, Trump said. The president called Canada “a very bad abuser” and said a target date for the tariffs would be, “I think Feb. 1.”

— Ganesh Rao

NATO’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, hailed newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning on Wednesday that Russia could expect more tariffs and sanctions if it did not end the war in Ukraine.

“I was very, very happy with the position of Trump to put more sanctions on Russia. We know that the Russian economy is doing terribly bad[ly], and the sanctions will help,” he told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He expressed hopes that Europe will now also “step up” with sanctions in a bid to “choke off the Russian economy” and lessen Moscow’s war coffers.

“Trump is right, Ukraine is closer to Europe, but Trump is also right that it is a geopolitical conflict so I’m sure the U.S. wants it to end with a good and strong deal,” Rutte added.

Trump on Wednesday said that, if no deal were reached to end the Russia-Ukraine war soon, the U.S. would “have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

— Holly Ellyatt

The chief executive of British oil and gas firm EnQuest says U.K. energy policy has been “terrible,” accusing the ruling Labour government of overseeing “a lot of decline.”

Asked to compare the approach from the U.S. and U.K. on energy policy, EnQuest’s Amjad Bseisu said there’s a “massive difference.”

At a time when U.S. oil and gas production is already booming, Bseisu that said newly inaugurated President Donald Trump is clearly “pushing hard to maximize value.” Meanwhile, the U.K. is “exactly the opposite,” according to Bseisu, who cited a steep decline in the country’s crude oil production in recent decades.

The energy policies of the two countries are “polar opposites, and it’s terrible. I mean, again, it’s a national emergency for the U.S., one of two, immigration and energy, whereas the U.K. is effectively slowing down investment and bringing the whole industry to a standstill,” Bseisu told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was not immediately available to comment.

— Sam Meredith

The CEO of French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi doubled down on plans to explore the second generation of obesity drugs, noting that solutions for sustained weight loss were “the next battleground.”

“We’ve decided to go after the second generation, to make sure that we play in what happens next when people have lost the weight — what could that look like? How to maintain that,” Paul Hudson said.

“That’s where the next battleground will be on behalf of those that need it,” he said.

The obesity drugs currently dominating the market, such as Wegovy and Zepbound — often referred to as GLP-1s — have been shown to drive significant weight reduction, but some patients have complained of struggling to maintain lower weight when not using the drugs.

Sanofi, whose own GLP-1 drug failed a mid-stage trial almost half a decade ago, suggested last year that it was exploring the next phase of obesity drugs, which could also include those with reduced side effects and muscle loss.

Meantime, Hudson said Sanofi intended to remain a leader in vaccine production, noting that the company would work constructively with the new U.S. administration, despite vaccine skepticism from President Donald Trump’s top health-care pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“We just want to get those vaccines out there,” Hudson said. “After clean water, vaccines are the No. 1 contributor to public health. So, over time, it’s early days, we’ll find our way and I’m sure we’ll be well understood.”

— Karen Gilchrist

The chief executive of German industrial giant Siemens says the company is “tariff-proof” amid fears of a possible transatlantic trade war.

Trump, who promised a new “golden age” for America in his inaugural address on Monday, has repeatedly threatened to impose duties on goods imported to the U.S. from the European Union.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said earlier in the week that the EU has been “very, very bad to us. So, they’re going to be in for tariffs. It’s the only way … you’re going to get fairness.”

Asked whether Siemens had concerns about the prospect of additional duties given it is such a large European company, Siemens CEO Roland Busch said: “At the same time we are a global company. So, the largest revenue share comes from the United States, we’re sitting on 25% and this goes up.”

Busch cited the firm’s recent $10 billion acquisition of U.S. engineering software firm Altair, saying the company has been expanding it’s U.S. footprint.

“We are tariff-proof. We are very much local to local, same for other regions, for China [and] for Europe. On the other side, tariffs normally they increase inflation by definition, so it doesn’t really help. So, I think the idea would be what can we do, what kind of deals to make in order to really reduce the trade tariffs to the minimal level,” Busch told CNBC in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.

“Free trade and low tariffs, I think, is really a driver for growth,” he added.

— Sam Meredith

Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm says China’s industrial development is “simply impressive,” citing the country’s rapid scale-up of clean energy technologies.

“Look, first of all, the industrial development in China is simply impressive. The way they are moving forward with batteries, EVs and rolling out renewables is pacesetting in the world,” Stausholm told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.

“But China is facing the same problem as Western economies. They are all short of materials. They are a big importer of materials and so is the West. People are realizing that if you want industrial development, you need supply chain security. That means mining and processing.”

Asked to comment on reports the company recently held merger talks with Glencore, Rio Tinto’s CEO declined to comment.

“I can’t comment on rumors, I would never do that,” Stausholm said.

“The thing you should think about is that I have been quite specific, when I took over four years ago, we were not ready for doing any acquisitions. But what I have said later on is we have got our house in order, we are a stronger company, and we are able to grow organically and inorganically,” he added.

— Sam Meredith

Carlsberg CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said the “biggest concern” for his business was future global consumption habits, citing a trend toward alcohol “moderation” among Western consumers.

“Overall alcohol consumption — especially in my category, which is beer — is slightly declining in the Western world,” he said, pointing to a particular trend of reduced alcohol consumption among young people.

The CEO said that while he continues to see a “long-term future” for great beer products, the company was also embracing other drinks categories to boost resilience.

“It’s very important to create resiliency,” he said. “That’s also why we as an industry, we’re pivoting.”

“We’re seeing significant growth in alcohol-free beers. It’s our fastest-growing category,” he added.

Aarup-Andersen said Carlsberg has launched more than 60 alcohol-free brands over the last three years, with more than half of launches over the past 12 months non-alcoholic. With the firm’s recent acquisition of soft drinks maker Britvic, around one-third of Carlsberg’s portfolio will be soft drinks.

— Karen Gilchrist

Asked about the recently announced $500 billion investment in U.S. AI infrastructure — backed by OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle and led by the Trump administration — SAP CEO Christian Klein said it was a “wake up call for Europe.”

The investment, known as the “Stargate Project,” was “a great move,” Klein told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick on the sidelines of the WEF’s Annual Meeting in Davos.

“It’s the right move, and it’s also about making the government more productive. Look at Europe, we always complain about regulations about too many AI acts … it’s a great role model for Europe,” he said.

He added that he would “absolutely support” a Stargate Project for Europe.

“We do business with all public sectors across the world, of course we would welcome that in Europe,” Klein said. “Europe needs it the most, from my perspective.”

— Chloe Taylor

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/01/23/wef-live-blog-whats-going-on-in-davos-on-thursday-january-23-2025.html