'I won't use force' and other key quotes from Trump's Davos speech

Ana Ceballos, Los Angeles Times on Jan 21, 2026

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump delivered a sharp critique of U.S. allies and rivals alike during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday, questioning Europe's political direction, casting down on NATO's reliability and reiterating his intent to push to acquire Greenland.

Speaking before an audience of global political and business leaders, Trump said European countries are "not headed in the right direction" in part because of what he described as bad immigration policies while asserting that the United States is a "great power" that needs to have outright ownership of Greenland in order to properly defend itself.

The remarks echoed his long-standing complaints that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has taken advantage of the United States, and questioned whether the allied countries would support the U.S. if the country needed them.

Here are some of Trump's most notable remarks:

—Renewing demands for Greenland: "It's the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land, this giant piece of ice, develop it and improve it and make it so that it's good for Europe and safe for Europe and good for us. And that's the reason I'm seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States. Just as we have acquired many other territories throughout our history."

—Military invasion ruled out: "We never asked for anything, and we never got anything, we probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable, but I won't do that, OK? That's probably the biggest statement I make because people thought I would use force. I don't want to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force."

—Outright ownership sought: "All we are asking for is to get Greenland, including right, title and ownership because you need the ownership to defend it. You can't defend it on a lease. No. 1, legally it is not defensible that way, totally. And No. 2, psychologically."

—On European immigration: "Certain places in Europe are unrecognizable. Frankly, they are not recognizable. We could argue, but there's no argument. Friends come back from different places — I don't want to insult anybody — and they say, 'I don't recognize it.' And that is not in a positive way. That's in a very negative way. And I want to see Europe go good, but it's not heading in the right direction."

—U.S. power: "The United States is keeping the whole world afloat. Without us, most of the countries don't even work. And then you have the protection factor. Without our military — which is the greatest in the world by far — without our military, you'd have threats that you wouldn't believe. You don't have threats because of us and that's because of NATO."

—On World War II impact: "After the war, which we won — we won it big. Without us, right now you'd all be speaking German and a little Japanese, perhaps."

—On NATO reliance: "The problem with NATO is that we'll be there for them 100%. But I'm not sure that they'd be there for us if we gave them the call. ... I'm not sure that they'd be there. I know we'd be there for them. I don't know that they'd be there for us. With all the money we expend, with all of the blood, sweat and tears, I don't know that they'd be there for us."

—Confusing Greenland for Iceland: "They are not there for us on Iceland, that I can tell you. I mean, our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland. So Iceland has already cost us a lot of money."

—A nod to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (who was at the forum): "We're going to help the people in California. We want to have no crime. I know Gavin was here. I used to get along so great with Gavin when I was president. Gavin is a good guy. And if you needed it, I would do it in a heartbeat. We did help them a lot in Los Angeles, a lot early in my term when they had some problems. But we would love to do it. I would say this, if I was a Democrat governor, I would call up Trump. I would say come on in, make us look good, because we are cutting crime down to nothing and we are taking people out — career criminals — who are only going to do bad things and we are bringing them back to their countries."

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