Trump Speaks at White House Ahead of Davos Departure
BBC News
This video can not be played
Donald Trump is speaking at the White House after doubling down on his demands to own Greenland – watch live at the top of the page
The US president says "I know we'll come to (Nato's) rescue, but I just really do question whether or not they'll come to ours".
This press briefing shows Trump "in his most enigmatic and expansive mood", writes Chief North America correspondent Gary O'Donoghue, who is in the briefing room
Earlier, the president said there was "no going back" on his plan, claiming "Greenland is imperative for national and world security" – read more on why he wants the island and what it could mean
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has warned leaders in Davos of "a shift towards a world without rules"
Edited by Jack Burgess in London and Brandon Livesay in New York, with Sarah Smith reporting from the White House
Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent
Donald Trump has been speaking for over an hour now – without taking a single question so far.
There is a classic technique in public relations. Talk until you drop – and then your audience might be so eager for it to end that they don't ask all the difficult questions.
The White House briefing room is packed – I had to climb over people just to move around – with plenty of reporters desperate for their turn.
But this is also just a mood thing. Trump often drifts through a meandering tour d'horizon, without an obvious theme or point. At times, he turns sentimental, reciting a side story about baseball.
He's obviously having a very reflective afternoon.
Daniel Bush
Washington Correspondent
Donald Trump touted his economic record in his opening remarks at the press briefing, but also appeared to acknowledge that his messaging on the issue isn't resonating with the public.
Trump says he wasn't receiving enough credit for lowering inflation he inherited from his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
"I'm not getting, maybe I have the, bad public relations people, but we're not getting it across. We inherited high numbers, and we brought them way down," Trump says.
Inflation was up 2.7 percent in December over the same period 12 months earlier, according to federal data released last month.
Trump's comment signals he's aware his economic policies may hurt Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. The issue will likely be a priority for many voters worried about the high cost of gasoline, housing and other goods and services.
Trump continues, saying that "nobody" has done more for Nato than him.
"I think for the most part they'll tell you that," he says. "I think you could ask the [Nato] secretary general about that."
He adds: "We spend tremendous amounts of money on Nato, and I know we'll come to their rescue, but I just really do question whether or not they'll come to ours."
As a reminder, in an earlier post on Truth Social, Trump appears to have published a screenshot of a message from Nato chief Mark Rutte, who tells Trump he is "committed to finding a way forward" on Greenland.
Trump, after listing some of the wars he says he resolved, such as the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, goes on to claim that Norway controls the Nobel Peace Prize.
"Norway controls the shots," he says. "It's a joke."
He says Nobel peace prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado told him she didn't deserve the award, and that Trump did. Last week Machado gave her Nobel medal to the US president during a meeting at the White House.
Trump says Machado told him: "President Trump deserves it – he ended eight wars."
For context: The Nobel prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian government. 
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
Donald Trump, on several occasions now, has expressed sorrow for Renee Good's fatal shooting by a federal immigration official in Minneapolis two weeks ago.
"It's a hard situation," he says. "That's so sad."
He said he felt "terrible" when he learned that Good's father was a "Trump fan".
The president even went so far as to say that ICE will sometimes "make mistakes" and "be too rough with people".
His remarks stand in contrast to those made by other White House officials – including Vice-President JD Vance and homeland security secretary Kristi Noem – in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, that characterised Good as a domestic terrorist who had intended to use her vehicle to injure ICE personnel.Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent at the White House
This is the president in his most enigmatic and expansive mood. During the campaign this used to be called "the weave" – meandering from subject to subject, often the connections not immediately obvious.
Then there are the odd little interludes – the most bizarre this time when he mused about a ring binder when he closed it and joked it could have taken his finger off.
"I wouldn't have shown the pain," he tells the briefing room, and indeed the rest of the world. Trump sounds a little low on energy – we know he was up late last night posting on social media – but he unquestionably has stamina.
This one could go on for a very long time.Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
For a news conference that was billed as a celebration of Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House, the president is taking a very defensive tone.
At one point, he complained he wasn’t getting credit for the booming stock market.
“Maybe I have bad public relations people,” he said.
He groused that there was “zero talk” about his efforts to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and he blamed the media for not reporting on it.
Trump is hardly the first president to grumble about his news coverage.
While the powers of the presidency are enormous and the Oval Office can be a potent megaphone, public opinion is often difficult to shift – particularly when a White House message conflicts with what Americans are feeling in their daily lives.
“I don’t like to do this,” Trump said of his news conference sales pitch. “I do this because we’ve got to get the word out.”
Trump now moves on to tariffs, after saying he visited a Ford plant in Michigan, which he says two years ago was about to close but now is going into 24-hour production.
"Tariffs did that," he says, before adding "I don't know what the Supreme Court is going to do", in reference to the case about the legality of those tariffs.
"We've taken hundreds of billions of dollars, and if we lose that case it’s possible we’ll have to do the best we can in paying it back," he continues.
He goes on to say he doesn't know "that's going to be done very easily without hurting a lot of people", claiming the US has "tremendous national security and no inflation" as a result of tariffs.
The ruling in that case is expected soon.Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
Public opinion polls show many voters are souring on Donald Trump’s immigration policies and their views of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement efforts are turning negative.
The first 15 minutes of the president’s appearance in the White House briefing room appears to be an attempt to change the public’s mind.
Holding a stack of printouts of immigrants with criminal records who have been detained by US authorities in Minnesota – “the worst of the worst”, they are labelled – the president is trying to make the case that his immigration policies are achieving results.
As daily photographs and videos out of Minnesota show immigration officials clashing with protesters and pulling suspects out of homes and vehicles, Trump wants to change the debate.
“This is what the people are trying to protect,” he said. “All ICE wants to do is get them out of our country.”Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent at the White House
Donald Trump is clearly keen to mark what he sees as his achievements in his second term, one year to the day since his inauguration.
In the White House press briefing room before Trump began to speak, they were handing out copies of a press release talking about "365 wins in 365 days” for the president.
Number one on that list is achieving negative net migration – for the first time in decades, it says.
Number 365 says Trump has tripled the opportunities for hunting in the United States – so there is a spectrum of issues there.
Once he begins to take questions, we're expecting Trump to be asked about Greenland, Venezuela and all the tariffs he's threatening.
I’ll be listening out for how serious the president is sounding about those economic measures before he heads off to Davos for those key meetings with European leaders.
Trump is now talking about immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, where he says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has apprehended 10,000 undocumented residents, all of whom Trump says are "criminals".
It's not clear if every one of those people arrested has a criminal charge or conviction, or just undocumented status.
The US state has experienced weeks of unrest and protests after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good earlier this month.
Trump briefly touches on Venezuela, mentioning María Corina Machado – the country's opposition leader who gave Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal when visiting the White House earlier this month.
"Maybe we can get her involved in some way," Trump says, calling Machado "an unbelievably nice woman".
Machado has contended that she should be the new leader of Venezuela after the US seized President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on 3 January.
Trump has declined to endorse her, saying she did not have enough domestic support – despite her opposition movement claiming victory in 2024's widely contested elections.
Sarah Smith
North America editor at the White House
Donald Trump seems very quiet and low key as he arrives in the briefing room.
Even though he is talking about one of his favourite topics – his immigration crackdown – he doesn’t have his usual passion and bombast.
In the room I can barely hear some of what he is saying. We know he was up late last night posting on social media about Greenland and criticising European leaders.
Maybe he didn't get enough sleep.
Donald Trump says he is soon going to a "beautiful place in Switzerland" – there are a few chuckles around the room.
He adds: "I'm sure I'm very happily awaited for."
As a reminder, the president is expected at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland tomorrow, where his threats to slap tariffs on allies unless they agree to the US acquiring Greenland have been widely discussed.
French President Emmanuel Macron told world leaders the "endless accumulation of new tariffs" from the US is "fundamentally unacceptable" and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney similarly said he "strongly opposes" tariffs over Greenland.
Almost an hour behind schedule, the US president arrives at the White House podium with a large binder of files that he calls a list of his "achievements".
Trump's showing some of them to the room and is mainly talking about his immigration policies of the past 12 months.
He holds up some photos up of people who have been arrested in Minnesota, claiming they are "criminal, illegal aliens".
The US president has just joined his press secretary in the White House briefing room and is starting to speak to the media.
Stick with us as we bring you the key lines.
We're still waiting for President Trump to begin his news conference.
Earlier, the White House press secretary posted on social media hinting at an appearance from the president at 18:00 GMT.
There's no sign of the president yet but we can see a plinth with the presidential seal in place, in front of a room packed full of reporters.
Stick with us and we'll bring you the latest updates. Sarah Smith
North America editor at the White House
On the first anniversary of President Trump’s return to the White House there is no shortage of momentous changes and dramatic developments to look back on.
President Trump will probably focus on his immigration policies – closing the southern border and sending immigration agents in US cities to detain and deport undocumented migrants.
That policy is under huge scrutiny at the moment after the shooting of protestor Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minnestota.
He will also want to talk up the American economy which he often describes as the “hottest in the world”.
He may also boast about how much money the US Treasury has taken in from trade tariffs charged on goods imported into the US.
But the administration knows that many voters are still complaining about the cost of living and now blame Donald Trump for high prices rather than former President Joe Biden.
On the world stage President Trump can reflect on the success of his dramatic military interventions in Iran, where he bombed the regime’s nuclear facilities last June.
And in Venezuela where President Nicolas Maduro was seized and deposed earlier this month.
But at the end of a year of dizzying news and events emanating from the Trump White House, there is barely time to reflect on how he has changed the US and the world, as we are focused on what he plans to do next – particularly over Greenland.Sarah Smith
North America editor at the White House
The White House press briefing room is more packed than I have ever seen it. With reporters crammed into every space (a fire hazard without a doubt).
The assumption is that the “very special guest” promised by Karoline Leavitt will be President Trump. He will want to celebrate his first year in office and his achievements so far.
We obviously want to ask him about Greenland and his threats to his Nato allies if they try to stand in his way.
Stay tuned…
The White House has confirmed that President Trump will be joining today's regular press briefing.
It's set to take place at 13:00 local time (18:00 GMT).
Leading up to the news briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who normally addresses the media solo, posted a message on social media hinting at the president's appearance.
"A very special guest will be joining me at the podium today…. TUNE IN!," she wrote.
In previous weeks, she's had Vice-President JD Vance and other members of Trump's cabinet.
Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.