President Trump Tells Davos U.S. Is ‘Winning Like Never Before’ As Impeachment Trial Begins

By Manori Ravindran

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is “winning like never before” in a keynote speech that opened the World Economic Forum at Davos on Tuesday.

Trump, who spoke at the Switzerland-set forum in 2017, used his platform to largely trump his own achievements. The speech coincided with the first day of his impeachment trial – the third time in history a U.S. president is facing impeachment.

Trump applauded a “U.S. turnaround that has been nothing short of spectacular,” in a wide-ranging address that covered everything from trade deals with China, Mexico and Canada, to U.S. job creation that he described as a “blue-collar boom.”

“I’m proud to declare the U.S. is in the midst of an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen before,” he said. “We have regained our stride…and reawakened the powerful spirit of American enterprise. We are flourishing and winning like never before.” 

He continued: “I knew if we unleashed the potential of our people – if we cut taxes, slashed regulation, fixed broken trade deals and fully tapped American energy – prosperity would come thundering back at record speed.

“Since my election, the U.S. has gained over 7 million jobs – a number (that was previously) unthinkable. I wouldn’t say it or think about it but that was the number I had in mind,” he said. 

Climate change is set to be front and centre at the World Economic Forum – a topic Trump conspicuously played down in his keynote, saying only that he is a “big believer in the environment” and wants the “cleanest water and the cleanest air.”

All eyes are on Trump and teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who is also set to speak at the conference later today. The pair were previously in the same room at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in September, where a clip of Thunberg staring down Trump as he strode into a room went viral.