US President Donald Trump makes a virtual address to attendees at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, last year. The gap between US president Donald Trump’s worldview and the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) vision of a rules-based global order couldn’t be starker. Ironically, US Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell is seen as a template of how to stand firm against Trump. Ahead of the event WEF president Børge Brende, told Time magazine “we know that President Trump [and his] secretaries are very much into deal making, and to make deals, you have to have a dialogue”. As the biggest meeting of business and politics globally, Davos is the showpiece event for globalisation and traditionally a target of leftwing protest.

Source: The Irish Times January 20, 2026 00:32 UTC