Davos 2025: Trade, tariffs, AI and UN chief Guterres dominate World Economic Forum agenda

DAVOS, Switzlerand (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres ratcheted up his warning about climate change and said the world’s thirst for fossil fuels is a “Frankenstein monster” that spares no one, while calling for greater attention to risks posed by artificial intelligence if its ascent goes ungoverned — even as some leaders played up its promise.

The United Nations' chief headlined a flurry of activities and talk sessions on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, where shifts underway in Washington during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first week back in office also featured heavily in the scheduled events and side chats of government officials, academics and business executives.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy combed the corridors, meeting with leaders such as Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, as well as German opposition leader and would-be chancellor Friedrich Merz in an effort to stir up support for Ukraine's fight against Russia.

Here are some highlights from Wednesday's session:

With energy and tech industry executives on hand, Guterres returned to one of his most frequent appeals: for the world to do more to fight global warming.

Trump's promises to “ drill, baby, drill ” and an array of worries about economic growth in some big but moribund economies in Europe and beyond have rattled public and private commitments to reduce carbon emissions.

Guterres bemoaned how 2024 was the hottest year on record, and warned of rising sea levels that could overwhelm ports that ship oil in and out.

“And rising temperatures, which are, overwhelmingly, caused by burning fossil fuels,” he said. “Our fossil fuel addiction is a Frankenstein monster, sparing nothing and no one. All around us, we see clear signs that the monster has become master.”

Companies that have recently backtracked on their climate commitments are “on the wrong side of history,” he added.

The U.N. chief lauded the promise of artificial intelligence, saying it could revolutionize learning, help improve health care and support farmers with tools that boost productivity.

“But with this promise comes profound risk, especially if AI is left ungoverned,” he said. warning that it could be used "as a tool of deception,” erode trust in institutions, disrupt labor markets and affect the conduct of war.

Trump on Tuesday announced a joint U.S. venture that plans to invest up to $500 billion for infrastructure linked to AI though a new partnership formed by Oracle, SoftBank and OpenAI.

The Stargate project's goal us to build out data centers and the electricity generation needed by voracious power needs of fast-evolving AI in Texas, the White House said.

Julie Sweet, chief executive officer of Accenture, the multinational information technology and consulting firm, hailed the Stargate investment as an “absolute validation that AI is important for companies and countries.”

She said the United States appeared set to maintain its approach toward AI of innovation first, then applying “appropriate guardrails” — unlike other places that put the guardrails first.

“AI will not be successful if people don’t trust it,” Sweet told The Associated Press. "So I’m not worried about it (being) too deregulated because the interests of making sure AI is trusted are aligned across all groups.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his country will have to “navigate” AI but will push it “on a faster pace, partly because of my age: we don't have time to wait.”

Anwar was speaking in Davos after the Southeast Asian nation and its neighbor Singapore struck a deal to create a special economic zone that would ramp up job creation and lure investment.

“AI is, of course, a new challenge. We don’t have the expertise (or) knowhow,” he said. “But AI means changing the education system, health services, blockchain, so it will have to come about.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for the EU to help “make social media great again” by taking tough regulatory measures against the technology platforms he described as being run by tycoons who flaunt the law.

“The tech billionaires want to overthrow democracy. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the truth of the terrible threat we face,” Sánchez said, citing the spread of misinformation that has fueled anti-liberal political movements. “The technology that was intended to free us has become the tool of our own oppression."

The center-left Socialist said social media were initially "supposed" to foster unity and democracy, but instead “have brought division, lies and a reactionary agenda” and now have "begun to compete unfairly with the strategic sectors of our economies, such as banking, retail and media outlets.

“And they have ended up in the hands of a reduced group of men — by the way, only men — whose combined (net) worth triples the entire European Union’s budget,” he added.

Sánchez said he would ask the EU to enact policies to end what he called anonymity of social media users, use existing legislation to “force open the black box of social media algorithms,” as well as hold the owners of social media platforms “personally accountable” for any wrongs brought by their sites.

Much buzz has been about where Trump’s much-trumpeted tariffs — such as goods from rival China and even allies Canada and Mexico — will land.

Britain’s new Treasury chief, Rachel Reeves, noted Trump is mulling tariffs on countries that are running big trade surpluses with the United States, which is not the case with the U.K. — ins has a small trade deficit with the U.S.

“So the problem that President Trump is trying to address is not addressed through tariffs on the U.K.,” Reeves said.

“There are a million Brits working for American firms and there are a million Americans working for British firms,” she told reporters. “Our economies are closely intertwined and I don’t believe that tariffs between our countries would be in either of our interests.”

Associated Press Writer Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, and Pan Pylas in London contributed to this report.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, and Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad Hasan AlShaibani attend the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Switzerland's Defense Minister Federal Councillor Viola Amherd, right, shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, left, prior to a bilateral meeting on the sideline of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders attends the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

ECP President Christine Lagarde attends the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Trade and Industry Minister of Norway Cecilie Terese Myrseth, 2nd right, sign an EFTA Free Trade Agreement at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez speaks at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez speaks at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez, right, walks in the snow at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Climate activist Luisa Neubauer paints a poster as she takes part in a small protest at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan.22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A man paints on a large poster at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

An autonomous food delivery vehicle serves people during the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Finnish President Alexander Stubb speaks at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez speaks at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Switzerland's Foreign Minister Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, left, drink a white wine with Maros Sefcovic, EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, right, prior to a bilateral meeting on the sideline of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, January 22, 2025. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

Participants at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A woman uses virtual reality glasses the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Javad Zaria, Vice President for Strategic Affairs of Iran, speaks the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks during a plenary session in the Congress Hall during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks during a plenary session in the Congress Hall during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, and WEF founder Klaus Schwab meet the media at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Greenpeace activists show a poster during a protest at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The Congress Center where the Annual Meeting of the World Economy forum take place is illuminated in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will road-test his claims that he's tackling Americans' affordability woes at a Tuesday rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania — shifting an argument made in Oval Office appearances and social media posts to a campaign-style event.

The trip comes as polling consistently shows that public trust in Trump's economic leadership has faltered. Following dismal results for Republicans in last month's off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump.

The president has consistently blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for inflation even as his own aggressive implementation of policies has pushed up prices that had been settling down after spiking in 2022 to a four-decade high. Inflation began to accelerate after Trump announced his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs in April. Companies warned that the import taxes could be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices and reduced hiring, yet Trump continues to insist that inflation has faded.

“We’re bringing prices way down," Trump said at the White House on Monday. “You can call it ‘affordability’ or anything you want — but the Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we’re the ones that are fixing it.”

The president's reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally could give a signal of just how much voters trust his claims. Monroe County flipped to Trump in the 2024 election after having backed Biden in 2020, helping the Republican to win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus.

As home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has largely relied on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting and other activities as a source of jobs. Its proximity to New York City — under two hours by car — has also attracted people seeking more affordable housing.

It's also an area that could help decide control of the House in next year's midterm elections.

Trump is holding his rally in a congressional district held by freshman Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who is a top target of Democrats and won his 2024 race by about 1.5 percentage points, among the nation’s closest. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is running for the nomination to challenge him.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said on the online conservative talk show “The Mom View” that Trump would be on the “campaign trail” next year to engage supporters who otherwise might sit out a congressional race.

Wiles, who helped manage Trump's 2024 campaign, said most administrations try to localize midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she intends to do the opposite of that.

“We’re actually going to turn that on its head," Wiles said, "and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters.”

Wiles added, “So I haven’t quite broken it to him yet, but he’s going to campaign like it’s 2024 again.”

Trump has said he's giving consumers relief by relaxing fuel efficiency standards for autos and signing agreements to reduce list prices on prescription drugs.

Trump has also advocated for cuts to the Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate — which influences the supply of money in the U.S. economy. He argues that would reduce the cost of mortgages and auto loans, although critics warn that cuts of the scale sought by Trump could instead worsen inflation.

The U.S. economy has shown signs of resilience with the stock market up this year and overall growth looking solid for the third quarter. But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity and other basic needs as swallowing up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration has said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.

Since the elections in November when Democrats won key races with a focus on kitchen table issues, Trump has often dismissed the concerns about prices as a “hoax” and a “con job” to suggest that he bears no responsibility for inflation, even though he campaigned on his ability to quickly bring down prices. Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

President Donald Trump arrives for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)