Donald Trump’s performance in Davos on January 21 was billed as a victory lap for an American “economic miracle.” In reality, it was a whirlwind of exaggerations about the US economy and the supremacy of fossil fuels, continued attacks on migrants and allies, misleading claims about NATO, Venezuela and Greenland.
Behind the noise sits a deeper question: do we double down on a fossil‑fuelled, inequality‑ridden model, or do we pivot to a wellbeing economy within planetary boundaries? Earth4All argues for the latter – and the facts are firmly on that side.
The economy: a fragile recovery, not a miracle
Trump told Davos there is “no inflation” or “very little inflation” in the United States. Yet core inflation is still running at around 2–3% a year, and households are cutting back on food, delaying medical visits and worrying about the next bill. If inflation were really zero, people would not still be in permanent cost‑of‑living triage.
Trump also claimed that the US economy is “the strongest in history,” pointing to stock indices and headline growth. Large banks such as Goldman Sachs describe something very different: a solid but not exceptional recovery, with growth close to long‑run trends and productivity and real wage gains still weaker than in the best post‑war decades. Talk of “exploding growth” hides the lived reality of high housing costs, entrenched inequality and job insecurity.
Contrary to Trump’s claim that real wages are not “surging for everyone, ” they have inched ahead of prices on average after a painful inflation shock, but the gains are modest and heavily skewed towards higher earners. Lower‑income and many middle‑income households remain squeezed by cumulative increases in housing, food, health and childcare. A few extra dollars a week is not a new social contract.
Through Earth4All’s lens, economic success is not what a leader says from a Davos stage, but whether people experience secure, dignified lives within planetary boundaries. Growth that comes with anxiety, unmet basic human needs and climate risk is not success. A true wellbeing economy should be judged by whether it delivers a stable job, an affordable home, time to care, and safety from climate extremes for the many – not windfalls for the few.
American wellbeing: what people actually say
Trump insisted that “people are doing very well, they are very happy with me.” Polling tells a different story. Recent surveys show his approval in net‑negative territory, with roughly one‑third of Americans approving his performance and a clear majority disapproving – the worst numbers of his second term so far.
At the same time, consumer and household surveys show people worried about rising costs and a cooling labour market, with inflation expectations still uncomfortably high. If people were truly “very happy,” they would not be telling pollsters that the country is on the wrong track, struggling with bills and fearing the next crisis. Yet roughly two‑thirds of Americans say things are headed in the wrong direction, including many independents. That is not the sound of a content society; it is the warning siren of insecurity.
Earth4All measures wellbeing in terms of secure livelihoods, time for care, affordable homes, decent health, a liveable climate and a sense of fairness – not in how loudly a leader insists that “people are happy.” A wellbeing‑oriented economy guarantees basic security through universal essential services, affordable housing, living wages and climate‑safe infrastructure, so that “doing well” becomes a lived reality, not a talking point on the WEF main stage.
Immigration: scapegoats instead of solutions
On immigration, Trump leaned on the familiar script of invasion and blame. He claimed that the Biden administration “admitted” 8 million “illegal immigrants” – a figure that misuses border encounter statistics. Border encounters count events, not individuals; DHS data indicate that the number of people released into the US is far lower, and includes hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children fleeing violence and poverty.
He also tried to pin the housing crisis on undocumented migrants, echoing earlier talking points that millions of “illegal aliens” are driving up home prices. Yet recent peer‑reviewed research finds no significant relationship between the share of unauthorised immigrants and house‑price increases at the state level. Housing costs are being pushed up by chronic under‑building, financialisation, restrictive zoning and interest‑rate hikes – structural choices, not the presence of desperate people at the border.
Earth4All’s counter‑vision starts from people, not passports. Wellbeing means safe borders and safe lives: migration that is managed, fair and rooted in shared human dignity, not turned into a lightning rod for failures in housing, labour and climate policy. Blaming migrants is a distraction from the real driver of the housing crisis, namely, a housing system rigged for speculation, low wages, and a climate and food crisis that push people from their homes.
An Earth4All vision of wellbeing economy would fix the basics – build affordable homes, raise labour standards, invest in education and climate resilience at home and abroad – so that fewer people are forced to move in desperation and those who do move can contribute safely and legally.
Climate, fossil fuels and the “green scam”
Trump dismissed climate action and the clean‑energy transition as a “green scam,” and derided wind power as a money‑loser that only “stupid people” would invest in. He also floated the false notion that “taking over” Venezuela’s oil sector would generate “billions” to pay for US projects, as if deepening fossil‑fuel dependence were a free geopolitical ATM rather than a driver of instability and climate risk. The evidence runs in the opposite direction. Countries with high shares of wind power, such as Denmark and parts of Germany, have seen long‑run benefits: lower wholesale prices when the wind blows, reduced fossil fuel imports, and lower emissions. Clean energy, efficiency and electrification are already cutting bills and creating jobs in countries that embrace them, while those that delay face bigger climate damages and more volatile fossil‑fuel prices.
On China, Trump falsely claimed that the country has “no wind turbines”. In fact, it is the world leader in wind power deployment, with more installed capacity than any other country, including the US. Far from being a scam, the transition to renewables is now a central pillar of industrial policy and competitiveness worldwide.
For Earth4All, clean energy is insurance. Wind and solar cut bills over time, clean the air, reduce climate risks and keep money at home instead of sending it to fossil exporters. Real security comes from getting out of the fossil‑fuel trap, not doubling down on it – whether in Venezuela’s oil fields or in fantasy megaprojects over Greenland.
NATO, Greenland and a new vision of security
Trump also used Davos to repeat old grievances about allies and to revive his fixation with Greenland. He claimed the US effectively funds NATO alone and has received “nothing in return,” and portrayed himself as the person who saved the alliance from the “ash heap of history.” In reality, NATO’s common budget is funded by all members; the US pays a significant share, 16%, nowhere near the 100% he falsely claimed. As for the “nothing in return”, we should recall that NATO allies invoked Article 5 after 9/11 and sent troops who fought and died alongside Americans. European countries have also increased defence spending in response to Russia’s aggression, with several now meeting or exceeding the 2% of GDP benchmark.
On Greenland, Trump’s revisionist history – that the US “gave it back” and must now reclaim it for security reasons – collides with the record. Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland has been affirmed by international law for nearly a century, and existing agreements already give the US extensive military access.
Trump’s claim that only US ownership of Greenland can ensure US and Western security is not supported by existing legal, military or strategic realities. Whilst we can not deny the looming threat of open conflict between the US and the EU, we firmly believe that the only credible way forward is on the basis of a vision of security in the transatlantic relationship that is focused on keeping the Earth system within safe limits.
We would argue that the central threats to transatlantic security are not just rival blocs, but the destabilisation of Earth’s life‑support systems and the social fractures that follow. Global military spending reached record levels while the climate system, food security and social cohesion deteriorate. NATO and the wider transatlantic architecture were not built to manage climate risk, inequality and technological disruption as integrated security challenges. Planetary stewardship – keeping the Earth system in a safe and just space – must move from the margins of security policy to its organising principle. That means shifting from zero‑sum games over territory and resources to cooperation on risk reduction, just transitions and democratic resilience. It means recognising the agency and rights of local communities – from Greenlandic Inuit to Venezuelan citizens – instead of treating land and resources as bargaining chips between superpowers.
The leadership we actually need
Trump’s Davos speech was 72 minutes of non-stop self‑promotion, grievance and manufactured miracles. It is a reminder that what makes peace and prosperity more likely long after any presidency ends is not who shouts loudest, but who builds durable institutions, equitable societies, but who also tells the truth about conflicts, supports negotiated peace grounded in international law and self‑determination, and recognises the sacrifices allies and citizens already make.
Above all, true leadership means admitting that debt, inequality and ecological overshoot cannot be solved by promising to “grow our way out” forever. The task now is to redesign tax, finance and corporate governance so that economic activity stays within planetary boundaries while delivering good lives for all. That is the real economic miracle worth fighting for – less a sudden “explosion” and more the steady, determined construction of a fair, green and secure global commons.
