Much of the global reaction to Speech by US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum On Wednesday, he focused on his plans for Greenland amid threats to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory – but several other notable moments may have been overlooked.
The speech lasted more than an hour and covered, among other topics, tariffs, the U.S. central bank and prescription drug prices.
There was also a reference to new “weapons of war”, along with a few other details.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Trump’s speech, beyond what he shared about Greenland and his comments about Canada.
Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve
Trump said he plans to announce a new president of the US Federal Reserve soon as well.
Central banks like the US Fed and the Bank of Canada have a mandate maintain the stability of economies by adjusting interest rates to maintain price stability while encouraging growth.
They make these decisions independently, based on expert analysis and data, while firmly opposing outside influence from government leaders and agendas.
“I will be announcing a new Fed chairman in the not too distant future. I think he will do a very good job. You see, I gave some of that away – him. I gave that away,” Trump said in Davos.
“So we have something. You get something. But someone who’s highly respected, they’re all respected. They’re all great. Everyone I’ve interviewed is great. Everybody could do, I think, a fantastic job. The problem is, they change once they get the job, they do.”
He continued: “You know, they say everything I want to hear. And then they get the job, they’re locked up for six years. They get the job and all of a sudden, ‘let’s raise the rates a little bit.’ I call them, ‘Sir, we’d rather not talk about it.’
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“It’s amazing how people change once they get the job. It’s a shame. It’s a kind of disloyalty. But they have to do what they think is right. We have a very bad president right now, Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell. It’s always too late. And he’s way behind with interest rates, except before the election. He was very good for the other side,” Trump added.
The future of drug prices
In his speech, Trump claimed prescription drug prices would fall around the world, then said he used the tariffs to pressure French President Emmanuel Macron to raise some prices in France.
This comes after the White House announced it in December 2025 that nine major pharmaceutical companies would cut drug prices for the government’s Medicaid program and cash payers in Trump’s latest attempt to bring costs in the United States in line with those in other wealthy countries.
“Drug prices are going to come down significantly in every country, and I appreciate that they did it. But they did it. Quite honestly, without tariffs, I couldn’t have done it,” Trump said.
“Under my Most Favored Nation policy on drug pricing, the cost of prescription drugs is falling by up to 90 percent, depending on how you calculate.”
Trump’s “most favored nation policy” aims to lower the price of certain prescription drugs in the United States to levels comparable to those in other countries, which could pay less for the same products.
Trump continued:
“I said, ‘Emmanuel [Macron, president of France]you’re going to have to raise the price of this pill to $20, maybe $30. Think about it. This means that it is a doubling. Doubling down on prescription drugs could triple or even quadruple. It’s not easy,” Trump said.
“‘No, no, no,’ he said. ‘Here’s the story, Emmanuel. The answer is you’re going to do it. You’re going to do it quickly. And if you don’t do it, I’m imposing a 25 percent tariff on everything you sell in the United States.'”
At one point in his speech, Trump mentioned America’s new “weapons of war”, without going into detail.
“Now our country and the world face far greater risks than ever before. From missiles, from nuclear power, from weapons of war that I can’t even talk about,” Trump said.
“Two weeks ago they saw weapons that no one had heard of. They couldn’t fire a single shot at us. They said what happened? Everything was disorganized.”
It’s unclear exactly what instance Trump was referring to where these “weapons” were used, but the timeline of “two weeks ago” is close to that of US strikes against Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro is January 3.
Earlier this month, CNN reportedciting several sources, on the Pentagon’s purchase of a device which, according to the report, would be linked to cases of “Havana syndrome” which have struck American and Canadian diplomats in Cuba since 2016.
Global News has not independently verified CNN’s reporting, and Trump gave no further details about the type of weapons he was referring to in his speech.
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