Trump Returns to Davos: Shakes Global Elites, Ends Era of Globalisation

Paul Riverbank, 1/14/2026Trump's Davos return signals an end to globalisation, stirring uncertainty among world leaders.

Officially, the theme this year is "A Spirit of Dialogue." In reality, the atmosphere teeters between open curiosity and bracing for a storm, thanks in no small part to Trump and the enormous American entourage hovering over the proceedings. Borge Brende, head of the forum, acknowledged the razor-wire backdrop: "This is the most complex geopolitical moment since 1945." That’s not just rhetoric; everyone here knows the rules are changing.

Trump comes bearing a very different brand of American leadership—one that’s shown itself willing to walk away from the old global order. In just the past twelve months, his administration has withdrawn the U.S. from 66 international groups, roughly half tied in some fashion to the United Nations. Industrial policy is back; foreign factories eye stiff tariffs if they don't bring jobs stateside. Taken together, these moves have rattled assumptions in the boardrooms and ministries of major capitals.

Economist Karen Harris put it quietly but bluntly on the sidelines: “We’re going to look back on 2025 not as a blip, but the end of neoliberal globalisation and the shaky birth of something new—a post-global world where America uses leverage, not gentle persuasion, and national security trumps almost everything.” There’s a whiff of irony—this sounds more like Beijing’s style than Washington’s of the past fifty years. Suddenly, global business is getting reacquainted with risk, competition, and a level of mistrust once thought safely historic.

Take Europe: nervous but pragmatic, EU leaders have been lining up alternative trade agreements at a tempo unseen in decades, hedging their bets, aware the old guarantees may now be—if not gone, then conditional. On the sideline, China dispatched Vice Premier He Lifeng: a clear signal, if anyone missed it, that Beijing intends to play the new game as well. Ursula von der Leyen is here for the EU; Zelensky, for Ukraine—with his country’s future still deeply tangled in the wider standoff.

What stands out about Trump is not just the substance of his pivot, but the brashness with which he carries it off. Subtlety isn’t the hallmark—neither in private exchanges nor public remarks. Former WTO chief Pascal Lamy noted, with classic understatement: “Trade—Trump made a great deal of noise.” But Lamy, and many here, think the bigger story lies elsewhere: the shifting tectonics of U.S. rivalry with China, the unresolved seething in Iran, and the western hemisphere’s gathering storm in Venezuela.

The Iranian street protests are a case in point—grabbing headlines even as the Swiss air grows thin. Commentator Hugh Hewitt makes a heady connection, writing that every regime, no matter how ruthless, has its limits when confronted with a restless, resentful public. He speculates—perhaps a bit dramatically—that if Trump ultimately contributes to Ayatollah Khamenei’s political fall, it will book his place in history: returned freedom to Iran’s people. Whether that’s exaggeration or prescience, the undercurrent is clear; the American presidency, even when unpredictable, still drives history’s larger currents.

Yet unpredictability has its price. Earlier in the season, Trump, visiting Seoul, openly mocked India’s prime minister over a bilateral meeting request—one of several episodes in which he’s ribbed fellow world leaders, Macron and Zelensky among them. Some writers, notably at Firstpost, call it poor form bordering on “diplomatic indecency.” Others shrug: off-script moments like these, they say, often spill out behind closed doors—only Trump drags them into the spotlight.

A portion of the American audience swells with pride at Trump’s boldness; others cringe, feeling he cheapens old alliances and unsettles friends rather than foes. And while European critics talk of unease, quieter voices behind the scenes suggest there’s something bracing—if a little exhausting—about seeing the unspoken made audible, the polite fiction replaced by direct negotiation.

India’s government, for one, is playing the long game. Despite any short-term turbulence, Delhi’s diplomats remain focused on the mutual advantages that tether the U.S. and India together—a relationship wagered to weather Trump and whatever comes beyond.

Meanwhile, the world churns on. In Iran, in Venezuela, Syria and Cuba, pressure builds—some from within, some from without. Recently toppled regimes, from the Soviet Union to the Duvalier dynasty in Haiti, are invoked in analysis after analysis. It’s Hewitt again, reflecting: America’s government endures because it’s anchored in the consent of the governed. That, he argues, sets it apart from systems that rule by fiat and fear, whatever their short-term tenacity.

Ultimately, Trump’s playbook—part improvisation, part provocation—is a study in contrasts. He’s lauded as an uncompromising champion of American interest by his supporters; by his detractors, he risks unmooring decades-old alliances and the global system itself. This is the world’s new reality: shifting, uncertain, and inescapably shaped by American choices.

So at Davos and everywhere the global elites meet, one thing is plain—no one quite knows where this chapter leads, but everyone understands that U.S. leadership, for all its turbulence, still occupies the center of the stage. The only certainty at Davos this year is uncertainty itself.

A chill lingers in the air above Davos this January, the kind that isn’t just about the Alpine winter. The World Economic Forum is alive with its trademark blend of optimism and anxiety, only this year the tension feels especially charged. Donald Trump, six years absent, has returned—larger than life, as is his style. You sense wary anticipation everywhere: at roundtables over lukewarm coffee, along marble-floored corridors, even in hushed conversations outside the main auditorium.Officially, the theme this year is "A Spirit of Dialogue." In reality, the atmosphere teeters between open curiosity and bracing for a storm, thanks in no small part to Trump and the enormous American entourage hovering over the proceedings. Borge Brende, head of the forum, acknowledged the razor-wire backdrop: "This is the most complex geopolitical moment since 1945." That’s not just rhetoric; everyone here knows the rules are changing.Trump comes bearing a very different brand of American leadership—one that’s shown itself willing to walk away from the old global order. In just the past twelve months, his administration has withdrawn the U.S. from 66 international groups, roughly half tied in some fashion to the United Nations. Industrial policy is back; foreign factories eye stiff tariffs if they don't bring jobs stateside. Taken together, these moves have rattled assumptions in the boardrooms and ministries of major capitals.Economist Karen Harris put it quietly but bluntly on the sidelines: “We’re going to look back on 2025 not as a blip, but the end of neoliberal globalisation and the shaky birth of something new—a post-global world where America uses leverage, not gentle persuasion, and national security trumps almost everything.” There’s a whiff of irony—this sounds more like Beijing’s style than Washington’s of the past fifty years. Suddenly, global business is getting reacquainted with risk, competition, and a level of mistrust once thought safely historic.Take Europe: nervous but pragmatic, EU leaders have been lining up alternative trade agreements at a tempo unseen in decades, hedging their bets, aware the old guarantees may now be—if not gone, then conditional. On the sideline, China dispatched Vice Premier He Lifeng: a clear signal, if anyone missed it, that Beijing intends to play the new game as well. Ursula von der Leyen is here for the EU; Zelensky, for Ukraine—with his country’s future still deeply tangled in the wider standoff.What stands out about Trump is not just the substance of his pivot, but the brashness with which he carries it off. Subtlety isn’t the hallmark—neither in private exchanges nor public remarks. Former WTO chief Pascal Lamy noted, with classic understatement: “Trade—Trump made a great deal of noise.” But Lamy, and many here, think the bigger story lies elsewhere: the shifting tectonics of U.S. rivalry with China, the unresolved seething in Iran, and the western hemisphere’s gathering storm in Venezuela.The Iranian street protests are a case in point—grabbing headlines even as the Swiss air grows thin. Commentator Hugh Hewitt makes a heady connection, writing that every regime, no matter how ruthless, has its limits when confronted with a restless, resentful public. He speculates—perhaps a bit dramatically—that if Trump ultimately contributes to Ayatollah Khamenei’s political fall, it will book his place in history: returned freedom to Iran’s people. Whether that’s exaggeration or prescience, the undercurrent is clear; the American presidency, even when unpredictable, still drives history’s larger currents.Yet unpredictability has its price. Earlier in the season, Trump, visiting Seoul, openly mocked India’s prime minister over a bilateral meeting request—one of several episodes in which he’s ribbed fellow world leaders, Macron and Zelensky among them. Some writers, notably at Firstpost, call it poor form bordering on “diplomatic indecency.” Others shrug: off-script moments like these, they say, often spill out behind closed doors—only Trump drags them into the spotlight.A portion of the American audience swells with pride at Trump’s boldness; others cringe, feeling he cheapens old alliances and unsettles friends rather than foes. And while European critics talk of unease, quieter voices behind the scenes suggest there’s something bracing—if a little exhausting—about seeing the unspoken made audible, the polite fiction replaced by direct negotiation.India’s government, for one, is playing the long game. Despite any short-term turbulence, Delhi’s diplomats remain focused on the mutual advantages that tether the U.S. and India together—a relationship wagered to weather Trump and whatever comes beyond.Meanwhile, the world churns on. In Iran, in Venezuela, Syria and Cuba, pressure builds—some from within, some from without. Recently toppled regimes, from the Soviet Union to the Duvalier dynasty in Haiti, are invoked in analysis after analysis. It’s Hewitt again, reflecting: America’s government endures because it’s anchored in the consent of the governed. That, he argues, sets it apart from systems that rule by fiat and fear, whatever their short-term tenacity.Ultimately, Trump’s playbook—part improvisation, part provocation—is a study in contrasts. He’s lauded as an uncompromising champion of American interest by his supporters; by his detractors, he risks unmooring decades-old alliances and the global system itself. This is the world’s new reality: shifting, uncertain, and inescapably shaped by American choices.So at Davos and everywhere the global elites meet, one thing is plain—no one quite knows where this chapter leads, but everyone understands that U.S. leadership, for all its turbulence, still occupies the center of the stage. The only certainty at Davos this year is uncertainty itself.