Apparently, the World Economic Forum had launched an internal investigation of President and CEO Borge Brende following revelations of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Today, the former Norwegian Foreign Minister resigned from his position.
ZURICH, Feb 26 (Reuters) – The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, said he was stepping down on Thursday, a few weeks after the forum launched an independent investigation into his relationship with late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Brende, who became president of the WEF in 2017, announced his decision in a statement following disclosures from the U.S. Justice Department that showed the Norwegian had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with the disgraced financier via email and text message.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum. My time here, spanning 8-1/2 years, has been profoundly rewarding,” said Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister.
President Trump held an impromptu press conference aboard Airforce One returning back to the United States from the World Economic Forum assembly in Davos, Switzerland.
Most of the questions surrounded the details of Greenland, the NATO relationship and the European Union. Additional questions returned to the issue of Ukraine and Russia with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner currently in Moscow meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. WATCH:
President Trump gave an extensive interview to Maria Bartiromo just before he left Davos. The primary questions surrounded the announced deal between the Trump administration and NATO over the U.S. security request for Greenland.
President Trump said the NATO/Denmark security deal for Greenland gives the United States unlimited and exclusive use the country to build bases and systems for the North American defense dome. President Trump also talked about the U.S. trade relationship with Europe and the friction points that still have to be addressed. WATCH:
This is one of those conversations that hints around the edges of what the collapse of globalism actually entails. As noted in the beginning of the WEF panel discussion by Christine Legarde, the construct of global economics was built upon a foundation of interdependent trade dependencies. If nations are no longer reliant upon other nations for sourcing of goods and services, the global construct of banking and finance then begins to collapse.
Globalism in its economic construct is a series of dependencies. If those dependencies are severed, if each country has the ability to feed, produce and innovate independently, then the entire dependency model around globalism collapses.
Within the globalism model that was historically created there was a group of people, western nations, banks, finance and various government leaders, who controlled the organization and rules of the trade dependencies. The action being taken for self-sufficiency, in combination with the approach promoted by President Trump that each nation state should generate their own needs, then the rules-based order that has existed for global trade will collapse.
If nations are no longer dependent, they become sovereign – able to exist without the need for support from other nations and systems. If nations are indeed sovereign, then globalism is no longer needed and a threat of the unknown rises. How will nations engage with each other if there is no governing body of western elites to make the rules for engagement? The need for control is a reaction to fear, and it is the fear of self-reliance that permeates the elitist class within the control structures.
Global trade is now beyond goods and services and into the world of automated artificial intelligence. Legarde notes the tech sector wants/needs access to more global data in order to create the control systems of tomorrow. However, again the problem arises when sovereign nations refuse to dump their independent data into the bucket of data dependency.
If each nation of the world is operating according to its individual best interests, the position of Donald Trump, then what happens to the governing elite who set up the system of interdependencies. This is the core of their fear.
If each nation can suddenly grow tea, what happens to the East India Tea Company. Who then sets the price for the tea, and worse still an entire distribution system (ships, ports, exchanges, banks, etc.) becomes functionally obsolescent.
President Donald Trump holds a bilateral agreement with NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte and one of the main topics was Greenland. During the media questions, President Trump noted the questioner was not telling the truth. It was funny.
At the conclusion of their bilateral meeting, President Trump announced that an agreement on the security and territorial control of Greenland had been achieved. WATCH:
President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral discussion with President Guy Parmelin of Switzerland, the host nation of Davos and the World Economic Forum assembly.
President Parmelin said, “Davos is not the same without you,” to wit President Trump said, “I agree.” President Parmelin then said he was working to correct the trade imbalance and Howard Lutnick and Jamison Greer then informed the assembled press pool the pharmaceutical production coming to the USA will correct the issue. lol WATCH:
Going back to 2016, Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi formed a strong relationship based on mutual interests. When the Hamas/Gaza war with Israel broke out, it was al-Sisi who was the key regional leader who -with full credibility from prior action against Islamic extremists- became the voice of stability that both sides of the crisis could respect.
Army General al-Sisi had the respect of the Egyptian people and during the Arab Spring it was al-Sisi who took control, dispatched the Muslim Brotherhood and restored lawful order to the country. Following the ouster of Mohammed Morsi, al-Sisi won the election with 80% support, then destroyed the Hamas tunnels that were used by extremists to smuggle weapons into Gaza. The Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda elements then targeted al-Sisi and conducted numerous terrorist attacks in the Sinai. Despite their efforts to destabilize Egypt, al-Sisi kept things under control.
President Sisi strongly influenced the other regional leaders to support President Trump as the one political leader who could bring forceful peace back to the situation in Gaza. During this bilateral session at the WEF, President Sisi thanks President Trump for his leadership and pledges full support to participate in the Gaza Board of Peace. WATCH:
NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte and EU leaders from the Arctic bordering states hold a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. As NATO General Secretary Rutte outlines the reality of the situation with a full defense of President Trump’s position, he remarks to the audience, “I’m not popular with you right now because I defend Donald Trump, but I really believe we can be happy that he’s here”. WATCH:
It has been reported that French President Emmanuel Macron left Davos upset about President Trump’s position on the need for security in Greenland. However, Macron looks small against the backdrop of the discussion by the adults who are accepting the truth and reality in what President Trump is doing.
After a brief return to the U.S. due to unexpected electrical issues aboard Airforce One, President Trump is now on the ground in Davos, Switzerland and about to make his speech to the international assembly gathered at the World Economic Forum 2026.
According to the schedule President Trump is expected to make his remarks at 8:30am Eastern Time. There are multiple livestreams below from domestic and international news outlets. The entire western world is watching to see what happens next.
A large U.S. delegation, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio are traveling with President Trump tonight to Davos. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and all of the key members of the cabinet are already there.
According to the official WEF schedule, President Donald Trump’s address is in the mid‑afternoon Wednesday January 21, with the Davos session set for 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. local time (8:30 to 9:15 a.m. ET).
The entire world will be watching this speech considering the geopolitical events of the past year, the current trajectory of global relationships that has been scrambled by President Trump, and anticipation of this moment being the inflection point in Western political history.
On the tech side, all of the information bots under the control of Canada, the U.K, Australia and the global intelligence apparatus will be turned on to control and shape internet opinion of President Trump’s speech. The need for control is a reaction to fear. Do not discount the stakes at play; this is beyond the trillions – this is everything. For the opposition to President Trump this is a zero-sum conflict.
Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent held a press conference earlier today to absorb and address some of the key questions from the international media assembly (SEE BELOW). Combined with feedback from Secretary Lutnick and USTR Greer, the speech content is being finalized on the flight between President Trump and Secretary Rubio.
Trump’s Davos schedule, via the White House. Depart DC Tuesday evening
Wednesday in Davos:
2:10 PM – 8:10 am ET – Greets WEF leadership
2:30 PM – 8:30 am ET – Delivers his Davos speech
3:45 PM – 9:45 am ET – Bilats and meetings
5:25 PM – 11:25 am ET – Business reception
Thursday
10:30 AM – 4:30 am ET – Board of Peace Charter Announcement
