Trump Gives Davos Elite a Choice: Invest in US or Else
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump promised attendees at the World Economic Forum on Thursday that if they invest in America “we will give you among the lowest taxes on earth.”
But with his next breath he warned that if they don’t make their products in the United States, “which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff.”
He then went on to say that while tariffs against individual companies will vary, in aggregate he anticipates them directing “billions of dollars and even trillions of dollars into our Treasury.”
After opening with an account of his election victory last November, Trump’s address to the annual gathering of the world’s elite in Davos, Switzerland, found the president in total “economic developer-in-chief” mode.
Speaking to the group via a video link from the White House, Trump described the first 72 hours of his second term as “nothing less than a revolution of common sense.”
He noted that since taking the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday, he’s imposed a federal hiring freeze, a federal regulation freeze, a foreign aid freeze, and declared a national energy emergency that will “unlock the liquid gold under our feet and pave the way for rapid approvals of new energy infrastructure.”
“Not only will this reduce the cost of virtually all goods and services, it will make the United States a manufacturing superpower and the world capital of artificial intelligence and crypto,” the president said.
“My administration has also begun the largest deregulation campaign in history, far exceeding even the record-setting efforts of my last term,” Trump said.
Later, the president reminded the Davos attendees of the enormous oil and gas reserves under the United States, and he vowed to use them.
“To further unleash our economy, our majorities in the House and Senate — which we also took, along with the presidency — are going to pass the largest tax cut in American history, including massive tax cuts for workers and families and big tax cuts for domestic producers and manufacturers,” he added.
“My message to every business in the world is very simple,” the president said. “Under the Trump administration, there will be no better place on Earth to create jobs, build factories or grow a company than right here in the good old USA.”
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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