Fact-checking Donald Trump’s Davos speech

In a freewheeling speech to world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump made a series of disputed claims.

Trump touched on his desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark – which he referred to as a “little request”, America’s contribution to NATO, and wind energy in China.

His speech – which lasted for more than an hour – contained a number of false assertions, which the BBC was investigating.

For weeks, Trump has spoken of his desire to acquire Greenland, a largely autonomous region of Denmark. He said this was critical to US national security.

After World War II, “we returned Greenland to Denmark,” he said in Davos, adding: “How stupid were we to do that?”

But it was not America’s duty to return the favor.

In 1933, an international court – the predecessor of the International Court of Justice – ruled so Greenland belonged to Denmark.

In 1941 – after Denmark’s surrender to Germany the previous year – representatives of the United States and Denmark signed an agreement allowing the United States to defend Greenland to prevent the Nazis from seizing it.

This led to the construction of American bases on the island As well as the deployment of American forces.

However, the agreement did not include a transfer of sovereignty, meaning Greenland never became a US territory.

The US President criticized NATO and claimed that “the United States was paying almost 100% of NATO.”

He said about the level of contributions of member states to the military coalition: “They did not pay 2%, and now they are paying 5%.”

None of these allegations were true.

In recent years US spending on defense It represented about 70% of the total spent by NATO countries.

In 2024, this fell to 65%, and in 2025, it is estimated to reach 62%, with all NATO members set to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense for the first time.

The US President has made these countries commit to spending more on defense, but the 5% that Trump talks about is a long-term goal – achieved by 2035.

Currently, no NATO member spends this amount, with Poland – the country that spends the bulk of its GDP on defense – estimated to have spent just under 4.5% in 2025.

Trump claimed that the United States “never got anything” from NATO and “we never asked for anything.”

the NATO website It states that “collective defense is the fundamental principle of NATO” and Article 5 of the Founding Treaty states that “an armed attack against one member of NATO shall be deemed to be an attack against them all.”

The United States is the only member of the coalition to invoke Article 5, following the September 11 attacks.

NATO countries contributed troops and military equipment to the US-led war in Afghanistan after that.

Among the countries that contributed was Denmark, which suffered one of the highest casualty rates per capita among US allies. They were largely deployed in hotly contested areas alongside British forces in Helmand Province.

Trump also criticized wind energy, a familiar target that he said is part of a “green new scam.”

He singled out China, claiming that although it produces a lot of wind turbines, he “couldn’t find any wind farms in China.”

China has one of the world’s largest wind farms in Gansu, which can be seen from space.

China produces more wind energy than any other country According to our world in data. Its statistics show that in 2024, China generated 997 terawatt-hours of wind.

That was more than double that of the United States, which was in second place.

President Trump also singled out the United Kingdom, criticizing its energy policies.

Referring to North Sea oil, Trump incorrectly said: “They… [the UK] “This makes it impossible for the oil companies to leave, as they take 92% of the revenues.”

Oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea pay a 30% corporation tax on their profits and a 10% surcharge on top of that. This is higher than the 25% corporate tax paid by other large companies.

In November 2024, the government raised the windfall tax on oil and gas companies from 35% to 38%.

This brings the total tax on North Sea oil to 78%, which is paid on profits rather than revenues.

The windfall tax, introduced by the Conservatives in 2022 in response to rising energy bills, is due to expire in 2030.

President Trump also spoke about the investments his administration has secured for America.

“We got commitments for a record $18 trillion,” he said, later repeating, “$18 trillion invested.”

He has made similar claims before – in October, he said the US had attracted $17tn (£12.7tn) worth of investment – ​​but there is no publicly available evidence to support figures of that scale.

white house website, Last updated in NovemberIt aims to track “new investments in manufacturing, technology, and infrastructure in the United States.” It states that total investments during the Trump era amount to $9.6 trillion (£7.1 trillion).

The largest amount on the list is a $1.4 trillion (£1 trillion) investment in manufacturing and industry by the UAE.

The website of the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C., says the UAE is “working with the Trump administration to make a historic $1.4 trillion investment in the United States over the next decade.”

Greg O’Clear, a statistician at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told the BBC that the White House verification program “includes pledges that may not be fulfilled – for example the trade deal with the European Union now appears to be frozen due to tensions in Greenland.”

The European Parliament’s International Trade Committee said on Wednesday that it was Suspension of ratification of the deal “Until the United States decides to return to the path of cooperation instead of confrontation.”

Auclair added that although foreign investment in the United States has increased over the past year, “it will take several years before the results of the Trump administration’s investment campaign become clear.”

(Additional reporting by Tom Edgington, Lucy Gilder, Matt Murphy, Nicholas Barrett and Anthony Rubin)