Trump's Davos Speech Is Almost Here. What to Watch

Dow Jones
Jan 21

President Donald Trump plans to give a speech at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland on Wednesday. The speech, which starts at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, comes just days after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on eight European countries until the U.S. comes to an agreement to purchase Greenland.

Though Trump will likely address his Greenland ambitions, White House officials say the speech instead is intended to focus on U.S. affordability and the economy.

Trump “will unveil initiatives to drive down housing costs, tout his economic agenda that has propelled the United States to lead the world in economic growth, and emphasize that the United States and Europe must leave behind economic stagnation and the policies that caused it,” said a White House official.

Trump and other GOP leaders are trying to turn around voters’ perceptions that Republicans aren’t doing enough to bring down prices. A CNN poll this month found that 61% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s economic performance, the worst mark that the president has registered in either of his two terms.

To that end, Trump has announced several affordability initiatives. He’s said he wants to ban purchases of single-family homes by large institutional investors and cap credit-card interest rates at 10% for one year. He’s also directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds in a bid to lower rates. White House advisors have said the president also wants Americans to be able to withdraw money from their 401(k) plans to use for down payments without facing a penalty.

Many of those proposals would require Congress to pass legislation, which is a tall order in an election year. What’s more, many of Trump’s other ideas, such as the Greenland-related tariffs, could raise prices.

The Davos speech will show how well Trump is committed to lowering prices even as his pro-tariff inclinations and geopolitical ambitions push him in the other direction.

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