Carney, Macron and Chinese windfarms come under fire

US President Donald Trump backed down from tariffs imposed on European countries and refused to use force to take Greenland during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

But his freewheeling speech at the forum, which lasted more than an hour, also included the kind of attacks that have become a hallmark of his presidency.

Trump touched on U.S. economic growth, efforts to buy Greenland from Denmark, and wind energy in both Europe and China.

The US president also expressed his feelings about some Western political leaders and repeated his criticisms of one NATO member in particular in a later speech. Here’s a recap of what came under fire this week.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke in Davos on Tuesday wearing dark, reflective sunglasses, prompting Trump to ask the question in his speech: “What happened?”

“I watched him with his nice sunglasses on yesterday,” Trump said Wednesday, prompting laughter in the auditorium.

Macron’s office later said the president chose to wear aviator sunglasses to protect his eyes due to a burst blood vessel, Reuters reported.

Macron, who did not mention Trump by name, used his speech to warn about the transition to a “world without rules” and He denounced them as “bullies”.

french presidency replied that it was “fake news” in a social media post, next to a GIF of Trump saying the same phrase in front of a microphone.

“President @EmmanuelMacron allegedly increased drug prices,” the French presidency said in a statement on Wednesday. he said.

“He doesn’t set his prices. They are regulated by the social security system and have essentially remained constant. Anyone who has ever set foot in a French pharmacy knows this.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made one of the most searing speeches of Davos and said: ““great powers” ​​are weaponizing their economic might and calling on “middle powers” ​​to act together, “because if we are not at the table, we are on the menu.”

Carney said last week: plans to join the board but details, including financial terms, had not yet been worked out. Permanent members must each pay $1 billion.

NATO military alliance we agreed In June last year it aimed to more than double defense spending from 2% of GDP to 5% by 2035. But Spain successfully pushed for an exemption, allowing its spending to remain around 2%.

“I don’t know what’s going on in Spain, why wouldn’t they do that? I guess they want a free ride, huh?” Trump said. “In all countries except Spain, the rate increased to 5%. I don’t know why. We will have to talk to Spain.”

Trump has previously threatened to make Spain pay for its refusal to meet its defense spending target, and in a recent meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Madrid had “no excuse” for paying less.

In his statement in June last year, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that he found the country’s current defense expenditure of 2 percent of GDP “adequate, realistic and compatible with the welfare state.”

Karin Keller-Sutter, the former president of Switzerland, also faced criticism from Trump this week.

Trump, who calls himself the “prime minister” of Switzerland, said on Wednesday that he received a call from Keller-Sutter after threatening to raise tariffs on Swiss goods to 30%.

“He said, ‘No, no, no, you can’t do that, 30%. You can’t do that. We’re a tiny little country.'” I said, “Yes, but you have a huge deficit,” Trump said. “He rubbed me the wrong way, I’ll be honest with you.”

Following this call, Trump said he increased Swiss tariffs to 39%; This reflects one of the highest tariff rates ever imposed on a country by his own administration.

US president Late last year, Switzerland reached an agreement to reduce customs duties on its products to 15%. Keller-Sutter’s term ended in December.

It wasn’t just political leaders who drew Trump’s ire. US president, A vocal critic of wind energy, he took aim at windmills.