I was in the room when President Donald Trump entered and it's fair to say he got a good welcome from the crowd, certainly at the beginning. A standing ovation.
On top of that, there was an astonishing scrum to try to get in, with many turned away - even heads of state.
The security was unbelievable, not letting even some of the most famous attendees in or out of the hall. Minutes into the speech, Trump was keeping his cool - even dropping in phrases about wanting the UK 'to do great'.
What some thought would be the day on which the US president laid down the laws of his new global economy was filled with grandfatherly advice. It was far from the mildly menacing tone of his social media posts claiming that Greenland will be America's.
As I entered, I was told of an astonishing event last night where Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the audience that, in terms of Europe's economy, 'you're dead'. There was a walkout. Might there have been one today? He seemed to be trying to avoid that.
Initially, I thought Trump was trying on a diplomatic front, perhaps having heard some of the significant criticism levelled against him and trying to sound mellow. He talked in friendly terms about the western allies that had been most perturbed by his social media posts. He even acknowledged that he probably shouldn't speak about the controversial issue of Greenland, which he has repeatedly vowed to take over.
However, the speech seemed to take a dark turn as he discussed America's historical role helping Greenland, insulted Europe's biggest economy, and announced negotiations for the USA to acquire Greenland.
Attempts at charm seemed to receive polite applause but shifted to disbelief as Trump moved from rigged elections to grievances about other leaders' Davos speeches.
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, pointed out that Trump had backed down after pushback from Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney, while a key Republican senator remarked that Congress would not support any plans concerning Greenland.
Nonetheless, controversies from the speech are likely to resonate for quite some time, making an impact on international discourse.
On top of that, there was an astonishing scrum to try to get in, with many turned away - even heads of state.
The security was unbelievable, not letting even some of the most famous attendees in or out of the hall. Minutes into the speech, Trump was keeping his cool - even dropping in phrases about wanting the UK 'to do great'.
What some thought would be the day on which the US president laid down the laws of his new global economy was filled with grandfatherly advice. It was far from the mildly menacing tone of his social media posts claiming that Greenland will be America's.
As I entered, I was told of an astonishing event last night where Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the audience that, in terms of Europe's economy, 'you're dead'. There was a walkout. Might there have been one today? He seemed to be trying to avoid that.
Initially, I thought Trump was trying on a diplomatic front, perhaps having heard some of the significant criticism levelled against him and trying to sound mellow. He talked in friendly terms about the western allies that had been most perturbed by his social media posts. He even acknowledged that he probably shouldn't speak about the controversial issue of Greenland, which he has repeatedly vowed to take over.
However, the speech seemed to take a dark turn as he discussed America's historical role helping Greenland, insulted Europe's biggest economy, and announced negotiations for the USA to acquire Greenland.
Attempts at charm seemed to receive polite applause but shifted to disbelief as Trump moved from rigged elections to grievances about other leaders' Davos speeches.
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, pointed out that Trump had backed down after pushback from Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney, while a key Republican senator remarked that Congress would not support any plans concerning Greenland.
Nonetheless, controversies from the speech are likely to resonate for quite some time, making an impact on international discourse.
