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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Business
David Smith in Washington

Trump paints himself as great white hope in racism-drenched Davos speech

two men, one at a lectern, in front of a US flag.
Stephen Miller looks on as Donald Trump speaks after US military actions in Venezuela, in Palm Beach, Florida, on 3 January 2026. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump turned up in Davos wielding an insult bazooka. He mocked Emmanuel Macron’s aviator sunglasses, chided Mark Carney (“Canada lives because of the United States”), asserted that the Swiss are “only good because of us” and had a dig at Denmark for losing Greenland “in six hours” during the second world war.

But beyond the fractious rhetoric, the US president brought a deeper message on Wednesday that sought to unify the west rather than divide it. It was his most dark, insidious and sinister project of all.

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