Trump and his Greenland threats are set to dominate a high-stakes World Economic Forum in Davos
- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady previews a high-stakes World Economic Forum in Davos.
- The big story: The weak business case for Greenland.
- The markets: Mixed globally, with U.S. markets closed for MLK Day.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning from Davos, Switzerland where the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is now underway. Organizers are calling this one of the highest-level gatherings in WEF history, a mix of almost 3,000 global leaders with about 850 top CEOs and chairs and a record 400 top political leaders, including 64 heads of state. All eyes will be on President Donald Trump, who’s coming with five cabinet secretaries and a large delegation of other senior officials. The theme this year, WEF’s first without founding chairman Klaus Schwab at the helm, is “A Spirit of Dialogue.”
Some might find that conceit to be ironic in a week when Trump threatened to impose tariffs on European nations that oppose his plan to buy Greenland, and Europe vowed to fight back. No wonder the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer finds a world retreating into isolationism. All the more reason for leaders around the globe to come together at a time when the stakes feel so high.
As I walked past USA House last night, a man lay sprawled on the icy ground, surrounded by paramedics trying to gauge if he could get up on his own. It felt like an apt metaphor for the sentiment I’ve encountered from several non-U.S. business leaders here so far: shell shock, a burst of unfamiliar pain and a desire to stay as close as possible to the U.S. As Mohamed Kande, the Washington-based global chairman of PwC, explained to me last night: “The U.S. continues to be the No. 1 destination for investment; people respect the fundamentals of the economy and the fundamentals of the companies.”
While geopolitics will likely dominate the news agenda, AI will dominate many of the discussions in hotels and sponsored houses along the Davos Promenade, where large numbers of unofficial attendees spend much of their time. That’s where the coveted parties, receptions, programming and dinners take place.
Fortune, for one, is hosting a series of gatherings, from C-suite lunches and the Fortune Most Powerful Women reception to our annual Global Leadership Dinner and a special block of programming this Wednesday at USA House. You can check out our full schedule here.
I’ll be joined on the ground by my colleagues Alyson Shontell, Kamal Ahmed and Jeremy Kahn, who will be filing dispatches, taping vodcasts, and moderating conversations throughout the week. (Kamal’s first column is here.)
One of my favorite places in Davos to experience a true spirit of dialogue is Barry’s Piano Bar, also known as “Cloudflare After Dark” since Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince rescued veteran WEF pianist Barry Coulson when Coulson’s longstanding Davos gig down the street dried up. If the six G7 members who are in town this week could sit around that piano, belting out some tunes, that might give peace a chance.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com