He is 79. Just a few hours earlier he had arrived from the US to a frozen Davos. His night's sleep was cut short when the plane malfunctioned, forcing him to disembark from Air Force One.
None of this prevented him from delivering a standing speech lasting more than an hour, responding to the moderator while seated for half an hour, answering journalists' questions at length and then immediately launching into a series of policy meetings with world leaders. This is Donald Trump, an American president unlike any other, and one doubts there will be another like him. Only in our digital world is it possible to keep pace with his tempo.
In the lengthy remarks Trump delivered, the only genuinely new element was his clarification that he would not use military force to seize Greenland. That update undoubtedly reassured the Europeans who came to the World Economic Forum, as the prospect of deploying the US military against a NATO member state had shaken the North Atlantic alliance and the West. The calming signal he sent restores a sense of order. The issue, it now appears, will be resolved through diplomatic and economic tools.
"Born with a weapon in their hand"
Trump devoted long minutes, as is his habit, to describing the "unprecedented" achievements of his administration. The world is accustomed to this exaggerated style and is no longer stirred by it. Nor did anyone shift uncomfortably at his pointed and important remarks about the challenge in Gaza.
"Hamas agreed to give up their weapons. Now, you have to understand, they were born with a weapon in their hand, so it's not easy to do. When they were born, they were born with a rifle in their hand. It's not easy for them, but that's what they agreed to do. They have to do it, and we'll know, ah, Jared, within the next two or three days, or over the next three weeks. They will be blown away if they don't do it."
With these words, Trump made clear that he fully understands the magnitude of the challenge posed by Hamas, the terrorist organization. Even without Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, he once again backed future Israeli action in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet its obligations under the deal. In line with a report in Israel Hayom earlier this week, he also confirmed that within days the organization will be required to give an answer as to whether it is complying with the demand to disarm. In this context, the coming two weeks are critical.
"Forgot" the massacre in Iran
By contrast, the challenge Trump missed the essence of was Iran. The president did return to drawing clear red lines for the ayatollah on the nuclear issue. However, he forgot, deliberately or inadvertently, the protesters inside Iran and the mass slaughter perpetrated against them by the regime of atrocities. The killing carried out there is in itself justification for the overthrow of the ayatollah and his associates. From both a moral and diplomatic standpoint, and assuming there are no operational considerations hidden from view, it would have been right to mention this.
Iran was and remains the most dangerous active threat to world peace. China and Russia may be dictatorships, but they do not export weapons and militias to destroy neighboring states. Iran, under its current regime, sows terror across the globe, quite literally. It is hard to imagine a world without this monstrous rule. Yet on the day it ceases to exist, the global peace Trump seeks will be far easier to achieve.
