US President Donald Trump used his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos today to declare what he called an “economic miracle” at home, claiming his policies had crushed inflation, turbocharged growth and revived American manufacturing within a year of returning to office.
Opening his speech by calling it “phenomenal news”, Trump said the US economy was booming, with incomes rising, investment surging and inflation “defeated”, in sharp contrast to what he described as “stagflation” under the previous Biden administration.
“After just one year of my policies, we are seeing no inflation and extraordinary growth,” Trump said, adding that the US economy would grow at “double the rate predicted by the IMF”.
Trump claimed his administration had lifted 1.4 million Americans off food stamps and secured investment commitments worth $18 trillion, a figure he said could rise to $20 trillion. “The US is the world’s economic engine,” he told business and political leaders. “When the US booms, the world economy booms.”
The president said his administration was focused on raising living standards, arguing that experts had been “virtually unanimous” in predicting his plans would trigger recession and inflation. “They were wrong,” he said.
Trump defended his sharp pivot in energy policy, saying the US was opening new energy plants instead of closing them, rejecting wind power approvals and prioritising domestic energy production. He also highlighted a mix of tax cuts and higher tariffs as central to his economic strategy.
“We are lowering taxes and increasing tariffs,” he said, adding that the administration had removed 270,000 bureaucrats from government payrolls, cut federal spending by $100 billion, and eliminated 129 regulations for every new regulation approved.
Citing July’s legislative agenda, Trump said his government had passed the “largest tax cuts” in US history, including removing taxes on tips and social security benefits.
On trade, Trump claimed the US had slashed its trade deficit by 77% in a single month, that factory construction was up 41%, and that Washington had concluded “historic trade deals” covering more than 40% of US trade.
Turning to Europe, Trump struck a critical note, saying “certain places in Europe are not even recognisable anymore — in a negative way”. While he said he wanted Europe to do well, he argued the continent was “not heading in the right direction”, criticising heavy government spending and mass migration as economic strategies.
The address comes as Trump holds a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders attending the five-day Davos summit in Switzerland, according to the White House.