Leaders at the World Economic Forum urged countries and businesses to filter out the turmoil from a week of clashes with the Trump administration and focus on boosting growth and fighting inequality.
The is showing unexpected resilience despite the noise, European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva and World Trade Organization head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during a discussion at Davos.
But while growth is holding up, troubles like worrisome levels of government debt and inequality loom.
That resilience is holding up despite disruptions from under President Donald Trump, who threatened to impose tariffs on countries supporting Greenland against a U.S. takeover bid, then withdrew the tariff proposal.
The Latest:
White House pushes back on Iran prosecutor over hangings
A White House official on Friday disputed Iran’s top prosecutor’s assertion that Trump has falsely claimed that Iran halted the hangings of some 800 protesters there, because the U.S. leader had intervened.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, reasserted that planned executions were called off as a result of Trump’s warnings and underscored that Trump was watching the situation in Iran closely and “all options are on the table if the regime executes protestors.”
But the official did not provide any evidence or details backing Trump’s claim.
Earlier Friday, prosecutor Mohammad Movahedi call Trump’s comments about halted hangings “completely false.”
Trump spent days suggesting that the U.S. might strike Iran militarily if its government triggered mass killings during the recent nationwide demonstrations against the Islamic. The U.S. president backed away from taking immediate action after claiming he’d received assurances that the Iranian government was abandoning plans to execute hundreds of protesters.
By Aamer Madhani
Vance applauds Trump efforts to end ‘tyranny of judicial rule’ on abortion
In his second annual address at March for Life, Vance told activists that Trump administration efforts including Supreme Court appointments that yielded the 2022 Dobbs decision have aimed to “clean up the wreckages of five decades of bad policy on the question of life.”
Vance — who at last year’s march said, “I want more babies in the United States of America” — was cheered by the crowd in mentioning that he and his wife, , are , their fourth child.
“Let the record show, you have a vice president who practices what he preaches,” Vance said Friday.
NATO supreme allied commander will take part in Russia-Ukraine negotiations
NATO’s top general, U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, is part of President Donald Trump’s team holding three-way negotiations Friday in the United Arab Emirates on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
The NATO supreme allied commander will be mainly serving as a senior U.S. military representative and has previously attended meetings tied to peace efforts in Geneva, Berlin and Paris as well as President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last year in Alaska, a spokesman said in a statement.
Grynkewich is at least the second military official to be part of the negotiations. U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was also tapped to help with such talks after first acting as a negotiator last November.
-By Konstantin Toropin
Trump addresses March for Life by video
Seated in the Oval Office, Trump in a message to anti-abortion activists’ annual gathering on Friday recounted his administration’s “unprecedented strides to protect innocent life and support the institution of the family like never before.”
Among his accomplishments, Trump enumerated his appointment of “judges and justices who believed in interpreting the Constitution as written,” reflecting on the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Under the Trump administration, we’re strongly defending religious liberty,” Trump said. “We’re bringing back faith in America. We’re bringing back God.” Vice President JD Vance is delivering this year’s keynote address.
Army secretary tapped again as Russia-Ukraine negotiator
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is part of Trump’s team holding three-way negotiations Friday in the United Arab Emirates on ending the a U.S. official says.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff asked Driscoll to attend given his experience serving in and leading the Army, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic process.
Driscoll was previously tapped to help with such talks last November during a preplanned trip to Ukraine meant to discuss drone warfare.
He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and other top negotiators in Geneva for more talks before traveling to Abu Dhabi to negotiate with the Russians on that previous trip.The U.S. official didn’t have a sense of how long this latest round of negotiating was expected to last. The development was reported earlier by Politico and Fox News.
— By Konstantin Toropin
British leader urges Trump to apologize for “appalling” remarks
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Trump to apologize for his false assertion that troops from NATO countries — other than Americans — stayed away from the front line during the war in Afghanistan.
Trump said that he wasn’t sure NATO would be there to support the U.S. if and when requested, provoking outrage and distress among many in the U.K. on Friday.
Starmer said Trump’s remarks were insulting and frankly appalling.” More than 150,000 British troops served in Afghanistan in the years after the U.S.-led 2001 invasion, the largest contingent after the American one. More than 450 of them died.
Justice Department joins Republican plea to Supreme Court to block new California congressional map that favors Democrats
Trump’s top Supreme Court lawyer told the justices that the map designed to elect up to five more Democratic House members “is tainted by an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”
Solicitor General D. John Sauer previously defended Texas’ map, engineered to elect up to five additional Republicans, as a legal Trump’s push for Texas Republicans to redistrict congressional boundaries led California to redo its own districts, with control of Congress on the line in this year’s elections.
The justices already have allowed Texas to use its new map, blocking a lower-court order that found it was likely racially discriminatory. Last month, a federal court in Sacramento rejected arguments that the new California districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters. Voters approved the new districts in November.
Republicans want the court to act before qualifying for congressional primaries begins next month.
Peru and Saudi Arabia formally join the stable of US ’major non-NATO allies’
Peru and Saudi Arabia are now officially members of a semi-exclusive club of “major non-NATO allies” of the United States following the publication of formal notices in the Federal Register.
Trump had announced in December that he would add both countries to the group, membership in which allows nations to buy U.S. armaments under the same terms and most conditions as NATO members.
With the formal addition of Peru and Saudi Arabia on Friday, there are now 22 major non-NATO allies on four continents.The Trump administration has already approved billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and just last week announced a $1.5 billion sale to Peru of design and construction supplies and equipment to upgrade and expand its main naval base.
Iranian prosecutor denies Trump claim 800 prisoners spared execution
Iran’s top prosecutor has called Trump’s claims about halting the hangings of 800 detained protesters “completely false.”
Activists say has already killed at least 5,002 people. The internet blackout in Iran has lasted over two weeks, making it hard to confirm information.
Meanwhile, tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain high as an American aircraft carrier group moves closer to the Middle East. Analysts say this could give Trump the option to carry out strikes, though he has avoided that so far despite warnings to Tehran.
Trump provokes ire after downplaying NATO’s Afghanistan involvement
Trump has provoked outrage in the U.K. with his suggestion that troops from NATO countries stayed away from the frontline during the war in Afghanistan.
In an interview in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Trump said he was not sure NATO would support the U.S. if and when requested.
He says troops “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey says those British troops ”should be remembered for who they were: heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation.”
US finalizes withdrawal from World Health Organization
The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization.
Officials announced the completion Thursday, which follows Trump’s announcement a year ago.
The U.S. owes over $130 million to the WHO, and unresolved issues remain, like access to global health data. Experts warn the move could harm global health responses and hinder U.S. vaccine development.
The withdrawal affects U.S. participation in WHO committees and global flu surveillance. Trump cited the WHO’s handling of COVID-19 and lack of reforms as reasons for the exit. Critics call the decision shortsighted and reckless.
