From Jan. 19 to Jan. 23, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026, also referred to as Davos 2026, took place in Davos, Switzerland amidst a time of heightened domestic and global tensions.
At this year’s conference, which marked 56 years of the Forum since its initial 1971 meeting, leaders from various countries and corporations joined together to discuss pressing global challenges across the political, societal and economic sectors. With this year’s theme being “A Spirit of Dialogue,” the Forum aims to serve as an impartial platform that empowers global leaders to turn dialogue and ideas into action.
Over 400 political leaders, including more than 60 heads of state, were among the nearly 3,000 participants who convened at the Forum. Among those participants were U.S. President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
In an on-stage conversation with Ben Smith, a co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the news website Semafor, Governor Newsom denounced corruption in the Trump administration, acknowledged his long-standing rivalry with Trump and announced a focus on strengthening California’s economic growth. The conversation comes a day after Governor Newsom’s office announced he was denied entry to a Fortune magazine interview at the official U.S venue at the Forum, with Governor Newsom writing on an X social media post, “How weak and pathetic do you have to be to be this scared of a fireside chat?”
President Trump gave a special address at the Forum, in which he briefly remarked on his recent one-year anniversary of holding office, announced a period of economic turnaround in the U.S., explained his motivations behind his Greenland push and affirmed his administration’s priorities on the topic of immigration. “It’s the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land, this giant piece of ice, develop it and improve it, and make it so that it’s good for Europe, and safe for Europe, and good for us,” President Trump said of why America seeks to gain ownership of Greenland.
He asserted that U.S. ownership of Greenland would be mutually beneficial, allowing the U.S. being able to prevent outside threats while providing Greenland with increased investment and security. He concluded by praising the Forum’s attendees and emphasizing that the U.S. is committed to building an ambitious and stronger future.
Additionally, while in Davos, President Trump and foreign officials from 19 other countries formally signed a charter to launch his Board of Peace, establishing the Board as an official international organization. At the signing ceremony, President Trump announced, “Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. And we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations. You know, I’ve always said the United Nations has got tremendous potential, has not used it.”
The charter enables the Board of Peace, chaired by President Trump, to be a self-appointed authority in global conflict resolution, prompting concerns from many world leaders that the Board might undermine the authority of the United Nations.
