The Great and the good decamped to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, a curious jamboree where billionaires, bureaucrats and self-appointed saviors of mankind gather to congratulate one another for, as the forum itself puts it, bringing leaders together for the greater good. Indeed, it’s precisely the sort of environment in which our lustrous leader feels most at home.This year the atmosphere was a little bit less cosy than usual in the run up. The mood was distinctly perturbed and unsettled by the messaging emanating from one Donald Trump and his White House. Well, extraordinary things have happened since. So Donald Trump comes out and says, I’m going to slap enormous tariffs on you if you don’t give me Greenland.
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I want it now, now, now and then. He says he’s had a lovely meeting with Mr. Rutte of Nato. And this isn’t going to happen. And Greenland’s all fine and dandy because he’s got what he wanted. This is absolutely fascinating change in the diplomatic tone. When he was Obama and Clinton, they were all having drinks together. It was all very jolly and nobody ever seemed to care about their own country. They always seemed to think about the world order. But Mark Carney has now told us that this world order is over.The comfortable thing to remember is that whatever MarkCarney believes is almost inevitably wrong. He would love Davos. He’s the poster child of the political class, the purest embodiment of the global establishment, an economist of sorts, a central banker, a man who spent his entire career, the nexus of international institutions, multilateral group thinking and self ego promoting. Of course, he mourns the death of the world order that he liked. It’s an order that suited people like him very well indeed. It was run by people like him. For people like him, it’s been a disaster for everyone else. Living standards stagnated, industries were ruined by net zero nonsense, borders were blurred and accountability evaporated. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS’The social media ban is a way for the state to take control”Brooklyn Beckham could be an even bigger brat than Prince Harry’Keir Starmer must stop Britain’s Chagos surrender before Donald Trump doesSo when President Trump addressed the world from Switzerland today, he began with this stern warning to European leaders. Certain places in Europe are not even recognizable, frankly, anymore. They’re not recognizable, and we can argue about it, but there’s no argument. Friends come back from different places. I don’t want to insult anybody and say I don’t recognize it. And that’s not in a positive way. That’s in a very negative way. But the president also offered a breath of fresh air in his analysis of how to restore the West.The United States cares greatly about the people of Europe. We really do. And we believe deeply in the bonds we share with Europe. As a civilisation, I want to see it do great. That’s why issues like energy, trade, immigration and economic growth must be central concerns to anyone who wants to see a strong and united West, because Europe and those countries have to do their thing. They have to get out of the culture that they’ve created. But his approach surprises people. A friend and foe alike are surprised by what the president has to say, but he is clear about what he wants and clear that he’s determined to get it. So how does he do this? Well, he throws all the balls up in the air. He ignores the politics that diplomats have been used to. He goes out and says, look, you’re making terrible mistakes. You’re ruining your own culture. You’re undermining your own culture. And he and the United States are not going to be part of that. He’s not going to make the United States cold and poor, and he’s going to tell Europe not to, either. He’s going to tell us that we should drill in the North Sea. He’s going to tell us we shouldn’t give away Chagos. He’s going to say to Europe, stop this nuttiness that is making you weak and become strong like the United States. Sometimes, of course, he goes too far. He goes too far and risks alienating those who are basically on his side. So I’m not sure this type of diplomacy always works, but he’s got defence spending up in NATO. He’s got some defence agreement, I expect for Greenland. He gets an awful lot of what he wants by not going along with the slightly sort of slimy, oily agendas Mark Carneyization of the world.
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