By Janet H. Cho

President Trump told attendees at Davos that he'll demand interest rates drop "immediately" and that he'll ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to cut the price of oil.

"If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately," Trump said. "You got to end that war." Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman yesterday, according to the White House.

On interest rates, Trump said he'll demand interest rates drop and "likewise they'll drop all around the world. They should follow us." The Federal Reserve in 2023 raised rates to their highest level in more than two decades to fight inflation. Despite slashing them by a percentage point last year, rates remain historically high.

The president also said the U.S. will be the world capital of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, promised tariffs on products made outside of the country, and called on NATO nations to increase defense spending.

The president, who took office on Monday, spoke virtually at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and took questions from a panel of business leaders, including Blackstone Group chairman, CEO, and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman; Bank of America chair and CEO Brian Moynihan; Banco Santander executive chair Ana Botín; and TotalEnergies chairman of the board and CEO Patrick Pouyanné.

The Russia-Ukraine war came up often. Trump said he spoke with Putin about the war and was asked by one of the panelists if the war would be over by the time Trump comes to Davos next year. He said: "You're going to have to ask Russia."

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Trump said China could also help stop the war. "I like President Xi [Jinping] very much," he said. "Hopefully [he and I] can work together and get that stopped."

Reducing regulations came up often in the Q&A session. Trump sympathized with a question from Blackstone's Schwarzman about frustrations among European business people with the regulatory requirements in the European Union. Trump said he was frustrated by the time it takes to get approved and comply with environmental impact statements, as well as the VAT taxes.

There wasn't much news on the tariff front. Trump said of Canada, which he's threatening with 25% tariffs, that "it's not fair that we should have a $200 billion or $250 billion deficit." He added that the U.S. doesn't need Canadian cars, lumber, or gas, referring to the largest products imported from the U.S. neighbor.

Trump told BofA's Moynihan that he would bring the corporate tax rate in the U.S. down from 21% to 15% "if you make your product in the U.S.A." Trump also said he would reinstate his 2017 tax cuts.

He reassured Pouyanné that he would agree to the security of liquid natural gas supplies to Europe. TotalEnergies is the largest importer of LNG from the U.S.

This is breaking news. Read a preview of President Trump's address below and check back for more analysis soon.

President Trump is participating virtually in the World Economic Forum's annual meeting today at Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, delivering remarks via live video.

He spoke before a dialogue with WEF founder and board Chairman Klaus Schwab; WEF President and CEO Børge Brende; Blackstone Group chairman, CEO, and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman; Bank of America chair and CEO Brian Moynihan; Banco Santander executive chair Ana Botín; and TotalEnergies chairman of the board and CEO Patrick Pouyanné, now underway.

You can livestream the address here or on Barron's above.

Even though Trump isn't at the event in person, WEF attendees have already discussed the impact of his return to the White House on global affairs.

In response to Trump's remarks during his inaugural address that the U.S. is "taking back" the Panamal Canal, Panama's president José Raúl Mulino said Wednesday that the waterway "belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama." He said Panama wouldn't be distracted by such pronouncements, calling them "misinformed" and a legal impossibility.

Trump's appearance follows several policy moves that have drawn attention around the world. After his Monday swearing-in, Trump signed executive orders withdrawing the U.S. for the second time from the Paris Climate Agreement. This week, he also revoked several of former President Joe Biden's executive orders to fight climate change, declared a national energy emergency, and canceled Biden's "unfair" incentives to promote electric-vehicle purchases. The U.S. is one of the world's largest producers of greenhouse gas emissions, second only to China, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Attendees at Thursday's event may be looking to hear more about Trump's choice this week to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, the United Nations agency that supports the global health system. In an executive order, Trump accused the WHO of "mishandling" the Covid-19 pandemic. The withdrawal has alarmed public-health officials, who are monitoring the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the U.S. as a potential future pandemic.

The day after those withdrawals, China expressed its support for both initiatives. "Protectionism leads nowhere. Trade war has no winners," Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said Tuesday at the World Economic Forum, The Wall Street Journal reported. "We should not only make the pie of economic globalization bigger, but also distribute it better."

Trump is among more than 50 heads of state and governmental leaders who are expected to attend the weeklong event, including President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh, and U.S. Secretary-General António Guterres.

Event organizers are expecting nearly 3,000 attendees from more than 130 countries throughout the course of the WEF meeting, which runs through Friday.

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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January 23, 2025 12:10 ET (17:10 GMT)

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