At Davos, global crises bend toward one man

The World Economic Forum opened this week under a familiar cloud of global crises and an increasingly familiar uncertainty about the United States. Donald Trump is expected in Davos on 21 and 22 January, but his presence is already being felt.

Gaza, Ukraine and Greenland dominate conversations not because they are new flashpoints, but because they now sit at the intersection of diplomacy and Trump’s personal political choreography.

Trump is scheduled to deliver a special address on Wednesday and to attend a session on Thursday that his administration hopes will mark the first meeting of the newly created Board of Peace, a body intended to guide Gaza from ceasefire to reconstruction. 

In the background, Ukraine and Greenland loom as parallel tests of leadership, set to shape both the tone of the Forum and the statements of the leaders gathered here.

Greenland as a test case

Greenland has emerged as the most sensitive of Trump’s talking points. The U.S. president frames the Arctic island as strategically indispensable while coupling the argument with renewed threats of tariffs on Europe and pointed references to European troop deployments. 

For European leaders in Davos, the challenge is not to be drawn into a bilateral theatre, but to keep the discussion anchored in multilateral terms without inflaming transatlantic fault lines.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron are seeking to project coordination and restraint. Their task is to address immediate geopolitical risks while insulating Europe from the economic aftershocks of escalating trade tensions. It is a delicate balancing act, made harder by the sense that the rules of engagement themselves are shifting. 

Trump, meanwhile, has wasted little time reminding the Davos crowd that the Forum is as much spectacle as substance. 

A message he published on Truth Social, attributed to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and presented as private, quickly became fodder for discussion. Referencing Syria, Gaza, Ukraine and Greenland, the note underscored how Davos doubles as a media stage where diplomacy is performed as much as practiced.

Diplomacy by invitation only

No meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky has been confirmed, and U.S. officials say none is currently planned. 

U.S. sources point to limited progress in recent talks involving Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Trump’s envoys, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The caution a broader shift in how engagement is structured. Dialogue is happening, but selectively, and often outside the formal spotlight.

That logic is even more pronounced in Gaza, where the most experimental initiative on display is the proposed Board of Peace. 

Marketed as a bridge from ceasefire to reconstruction, it marks a deliberate departure from traditional UN-style multilateralism. Though formally temporary and backed by an international mandate, its authority would rest less on representation than on influence.

Under current drafts, Trump would chair the board, joined by Witkoff, Kushner, Senator Marco Rubio and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. 

Financial power is central to the design. World Bank President Ajay Banga and Apollo chief Marc Rowan appear alongside former UN officials and regional figures from Turkey, the Gulf, Egypt and Israel. 

Italy has claimed a place through Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, positioning Rome as a potential convening force.

Trump is expected to formalise the arrangement this week, underscoring a broader shift toward a model of diplomacy defined less by institutions than by invitation.

Power, markets and diplomacy signals

Beyond geopolitics, Davos remains what it has always been: a place to speak to markets. 

Argentine President Javier Milei arrives hoping that even a fleeting interaction with Trump might signal alignment. No bilateral is planned, but symbolism matters here. Milei will make the case for free markets and against state intervention, while courting finance leaders from Wall Street and European banking. 

The EU–Mercosur trade deal will feature prominently, pitched as both an investment signal and a reputational reset.

From Moscow comes another signal of movement. 

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev is expected to attend Davos, where informal encounters with figures close to Donald Trump are possible. At a moment when official diplomatic channels appear slow and constrained, the Forum once again serves its familiar dual function: a place where leaders project certainty in public and quietly explore options in private.

Image Credit: Ciaran McCrickard / World Economic Forum. (2026, January 19). Impressions from the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/55048525542/in/photostream/