Europe is headed in the wrong direction, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday during a speech in Davos, overshadowed by fraying transatlantic ties and his push to acquire Greenland.
Addressing the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual meeting, Trump said certain places in Europe are "not recognizable frankly anymore. They're not recognizable."
"I love Europe and I want to see Europe go good, but it's not heading in the right direction," he said.
Trump called the U.S. the "economic engine on the planet."
"And when America booms, the entire world booms. ... You all follow us down and you follow us up," he added.
He said a focus on green energy and mass migration were factors that had hurt Europe, without citing evidence.
A senior White House official told reporters en route to the Swiss mountain resort that Trump would use the speech to discuss his America First-based economic policies but might also address Greenland and Venezuela.
On Thursday, he will talk more about foreign policy, the official said.
Trump, who marked the end of a turbulent first year in office on Tuesday, is set to overshadow the agenda of the WEF, where global elites chew over economic and political trends.
Trump told a news conference on Tuesday that he would have meetings about the Danish territory of Greenland in Davos and was optimistic that an agreement could eventually be reached.
"I think we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we're going to be very happy. But we need it for security purposes. We need it for national security," he said.
NATO leaders have warned that Trump's Greenland strategy could upend the alliance, while the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have offered a wide array of ways for a greater U.S. presence on the strategic island territory of 57,000 people.
"You'll find out," said Trump, who has linked Greenland to his anger at not receiving a Nobel Peace Prize, when asked how far he is willing to go.
