Hamas will be 'blown away' if it does not disarm, Trump tells Davos

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that Hamas will be “blown away” unless it agrees to disarm during the second phase of the American peace plan for Gaza.

After a largely unscripted speech to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Mr Trump said in a question-and-answer session it would not be easy for Hamas to give up its weapons, as stipulated in the October ceasefire, but he predicted the group would do so.

“They were born with a weapon in their hand. It’s not an easy thing,” he said. “[But] if they don’t do it they’ll be blown away.”

Palestinians frozen out of Donald Trump's Board of Peace, officials say

Mr Trump’s Board of Peace, which will oversee the implementation of the Gaza peace plan, is expected to be signed off in Davos on Thursday. More than 10 leaders have so far accepted invitations to join the board, including President Sheikh Mohamed.

In his speech, in which he said he was addressing "friends" and "enemies" in the hall in the Swiss resort, Mr Trump said no force will be used to seize Greenland, but pressed his claim to an island he said must become part of America.

He refused to back down but sent the signal that there would be no boots on the ice of the “big, beautiful island”.

“I won’t use force,” Mr Trump said.

The crisis between the US and Europe had sparked a stock market sell-off a day earlier, with the S&P 500 dropping two per cent, wiping billions from the value of American companies. At the weekend, European nations said they would send troops to shore up Greenland's sovereignty.

You can say yes, and we'll be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we'll remember

Donald Trump on Denmark handing over Greenland

Mr Trump's statement will do much to quell fears of yet another geopolitical crisis, but is far from over. He appeared to link America paying the lion's share of Nato's funding to the right to own Greenland.

“We pay for, in my opinion, 100 per cent of Nato, because they won't pay their bills. And all we're asking for is Greenland.” He said the US could use force, but it would not.

Addressing Denmark, he said: “You can say yes, and we'll be very appreciative, or you can say no, and we'll remember.”

He repeated the claim that the US gave Greenland back to Denmark after the war, “which we won”. “How ungrateful are they now?” he said of Denmark.

“So now our country and the world face much greater risks than ever before … because of weapons of warfare I can't even talk about.

“We need it for strategic national security. This enormous, unsecured island is actually part of North America. That's our territory.”

Productive meeting

Later on Wednesday, he said he held a "very productive" meeting on Greenland with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is doing “a fantastic job".

In a post on Truth Social he said a "framework" for a future deal on Greenland had been reached, without elaborating further.

Mr Trump said no additional tariffs would be charged on goods from European nations. He had threatened to introduce tariffs over their opposition to his push to acquire Greenland. Those were due to go into effect on February 1.

"This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all Nato nations," he said.

Before the meeting, Mr Rutte said the Nato alliance has been made stronger under Mr Trump’s leadership, adding that Nato members would come to the US's defence if it were attacked.

“Let me tell you: they will,” he said.

'Remember that, Mark'

In the event of a future war, “missiles would be flying right over that piece of ice”. He added that “Canada lives” because of the US.

“Remember that, Mark, next time you make your statements,” he said, referring to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's barnstorming speech on Tuesday that warned of an illiberal global order.

Mr Trump's speech was part pantomime – bombastically asking the audience if they wanted to hear about Greenland or not – and part classic Trump.

He strayed from topic to topic wildly, including a lengthy and recurring diatribe about former US president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris. He brought up familiar claims about Mr Biden's team using an autopen to sign laws into statute books during his cognitive decline.

A large chunk was devoted to tackling inflation and creating what Mr Trump claimed is an American economy booming due to his actions.

At one stage, he moved on to fighting Somali pirates, as some delegates left the congress hall early.

Bafflingly, he spoke of “Somali bandits with higher IQ than you thought”.

'Iran almost had the bomb'

Mr Trump claimed Iran had been only two months away from having a nuclear weapon when US bombers struck last summer. The statement is far more radical than any assessment from the UN watchdog or known intelligence reports.

He said the mission was necessary to turn the tide against Iran's allies and end the Gaza war.

“Countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar could never have signed anything because of this dark cloud, and the dark cloud was Iran,” he claimed. The strikes, he suggested, allowed the Gaza peace deal in October to happen.

“They were very close to having a nuclear bomb,” he said.

Payback for Europe

On Tuesday and earlier on Wednesday, a host of European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron, lined up to criticise the breakdown of the global political order under the Trump administration, although most avoided naming him.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump allowed time for some payback. He singled out Germany and the UK as countries that he believes are victims of the “great green hoax”, and that have, in his words, turned their backs on fossil fuels.

“The green new scam … the greatest hoax in history,” he said. “Here in Europe, we've seen the fate that the radical left had for America. Germany now generates 22 per cent less electricity than it did in 2017.

“The United Kingdom produces just one third of the total electricity it did in 1999, and they're sitting on top of the North Sea … and they don't even use it.

“And they like to say it's depleted, and it's got 500 years. The North Sea is incredible. But they make it impossible for the oil companies. They take 92 per cent of the profits.”

He claimed China sells windmills to the “stupid people that buy them … but they don't use them themselves”.

Perhaps in an attempt to temper his comments and win back the audience, he said his words were only so stark because he cares.

He described himself as “100 per cent Scotland” and “100 per cent Germany”, owing to his mother and father's heritage.

Mr Trump opened his speech by saying he was pleased to see “so many friends, a few enemies. It's a who's who, that's what I'll say”.

One of the few world leaders he spoke of warmly was Chinese President Xi Jinping, an “impressive man”.