Decoding Donald Trump's Davos Speech

US President Donald Trump (left) spoke at the World Economic Forum on January 21 in Switzerland. His address was designated as a special session in the official agenda for Davos.

It was a meandering 72-minute speech of dubiety, deception and delirium. 

72 minutes in which he bragged everything is going great guns in the US of A! Grocery prices, energy prices, air fares, mortgages, rents, car payments – are all coming down and they are coming down fast!

72 minutes in which Trump confused Greenland with Iceland. One a colony of Denmark; the other a sovereign country. Multiple times. While explaining why he wants to buy it. 

72 minutes in which he called Greenland “a piece of ice” on which the fate of the Earth would depend: “What I’m asking for is a piece of ice in exchange for world peace”.

72 minutes in which he threatened a NATO ally, Denmark, with these words: “You can say yes, and we’ll appreciate it. You can say no, and we’ll remember it”.  

72 minutes in which he declared that he has “100% Scottish blood and 100% German blood”. Which would make 200%. Evidently math is not his strong suit. 

72 minutes in which he claimed that the United States, after World War II, “gave Greenland back to Denmark”. Too bad that’s not true. The United States never owned Greenland. Never. In 1916 they officially recognized Danish sovereignty. During the war they only obtained temporary military bases. And in 1946 they tried to buy it by offering 100 million dollars. Denmark said no. There was no “giving back”. 

72 minutes in which he claimed that “China has no wind turbines”. China. The country that for 15 consecutive years has been the world’s largest producer of wind energy. The one that builds 45% of all wind projects on the planet. But for Trump, “they don’t have fields of windmills”. They sell them “to the stupid”. 

72 minutes in which he said that “all the big oil companies are coming with us to Venezuela”. Too bad that 3 days earlier, the CEO of ExxonMobil told him to his face that Venezuela is “not investible”. Too bad Trump got furious and threatened to exclude Exxon. Too bad the other companies are standing on the sidelines, terrified. But at Davos he said “they’re all coming”. 

72 minutes in which he claimed that “there is practically no inflation” in the United States. US inflation is at 2.7%. Above the Fed’s target. Forecast to rise because of his own tariffs. But for him, “there is practically none”. 

72 minutes in which he attacked the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, calling him “stupid” and “Jerome too-late Powell”. Live. In front of world economic leaders. 

72 minutes in which he told the story of imposing tariffs on Switzerland out of spite, because “a woman” whose name he doesn’t remember “petted him the wrong way”. 

72 minutes in which he said that “yesterday the market crashed because of Iceland”. Iceland. A country with 380,000 inhabitants. That supposedly made Wall Street collapse. 

72 minutes in which he claimed that the United States “paid 100% of NATO”. 100%. When the American share of the NATO budget is about 16%. But for him, 100%. 

72 minutes in which he mispronounced Azerbaijan as “Aber-bajian”. 

72 minutes of conveyer-belt wordiness. A smokescreen of fustian and fantasy. A clumsy catalogue of easily verifiable lies, of made-up numbers, of threats to allies, of insults to officials, of geographical flubs, of boasts contradicted by facts. 

And the world, in bemused silence, watched. 

Boeing's Travails Aren't Over

Boeing's travails are by no means over and they have definitely not gone away!

 

On April 24, Air France flight #AF291 from Osaka, Japan to Paris, France was diverted to Baku's Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Azerbaijan, following the appearance of a heat smell in the cabin. 

 

The passengers on the Boeing 777-200ER plane safely disembarked and technical checks are being carried out. Due to difficulties in obtaining visas, they are obliged to remain in the transit zone where they are able to have meals. 

 

A new plane has been put in place by Air France departing from Paris to enable passengers to be re-routed as quickly as possible, in liaison with the local airport authorities.

 

On April 23, a Lufthansa flight #LH456 from Frankfurt, Germany performed a dramatic touch and go at Los Angeles, United States. 

 

The Boeing 747-8 bounced on the runway while making a landing attempt at Los Angeles LAX. Anyway, it landed safely on the same runway about 15 minutes later.

 

On April 21, a FlySafair Boeing 737 which was operating flight FA212 from South Africa's Johannesburg to Cape Town lost a wheel. 

 

During takeoff from the former's OR Tambo International Airport, the aircraft’s left outer main gear wheel decided to divorce. 

 

Following the separation of the wheel, the crew discontinued their climb at 22,000 feet and entered a holding pattern to burn fuel. After roughly 190 minutes airborne, air traffic control visually confirmed the missing wheel. 

 

The pilots then executed a safe emergency landing back at OR Tambo International Airport. Unfortunately, the landing resulted in further damage to the rim of the remaining wheel assembly.

 

Thankfully, there were no injuries reported among the passengers or crew on board. The incident did, however, cause delays at the airport as crews worked to clear the runway. 

 

As per the above 3 incidents, Boeing continue to experience issues with their planes. 

 

Not only that but the company must pay $443 million in compensation to airlines for the Max 9 grounding even as losses and problems mount. 

 

FYI, Boeing reported a core operating loss of $388 million in 1Q24, a slightly smaller loss compared to $440 million for the same period a year ago.

US Rakes In Massive Profits From LNG Sales To Europe

Europe has been ramping up imports of US LNG.

On the latter's side, liquified natural gas and other natural gas exports rose sharply in August, according to ÚS government data released Thursday, particularly to European nations facing a rapidly approaching winter with an insufficient supply from Russia almost guaranteed. 

And it’s interesting to know that while natural gas exports to France are up 421% through the first eight months of 2022, the value increased 1,094 percent in August alone! 

A similar story can be told for Croatia, where imports are up 281% through August but 1,195% in August; Poland, which is up 505% YTD and 817,000% in August; and the United Kingdom, up 216% YTD and 6,797% in August. 

French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday said that Europe should not become subject to American “domination” as it becomes increasingly dependent on US LNG. 

“We cannot accept that our American partner sells its LNG at four times the price at which it sells it to its own companies”, Le Maire said, while calling for a “more balanced economic relationship on the energy issue between our American allies and the European continent”. 

France shouldn’t complain. Actually, the LNG market is being influenced by soaring prices in Europe. Strong natural gas demand has pulled natural gas inventories to a relatively low level. Fear often causes the oil and gas markets to overshoot. 

Besides, the price of LNG from the US is at least 30-40 percent higher than Russian pipeline gas – and that is an inescapable reality. 

Le Maire (left) should zip his mouth and just pay the price because France and the rest of Europe brought it upon themselves. 

You can expect the US to be happy about it because it is raking in massive profits at the expense of its so-called friends in Europe. 

Like it or not, US LNG will continue to play a crucial role in Europe’s gas supply. But it won’t be enough to avoid a major squeeze over the next three years. 

A recent study by Rystad Energy and funded by the American Petroleum Institute and the International Association for Oil & Gas Producers found that US producers will remain the biggest LNG suppliers to European countries over the long term. But before the market rebalances, there will be a supply gap lasting until somewhere between 2023 and 2025. Meaning, the US cannot fill the gap left by a drop in supply from Russia. 

The gap will be prompted by the assumed cut-off of all Russian gas supplies – something that European countries have stated they will aim for – and growth in US LNG export capacity. Noted that export capacity will be growing in Qatar (a non-OPEC member) too. 

Although there are non-Russian options for more pipeline gas, such as Norway, Azerbaijan, and Algeria, the Rystad study assumes that LNG will reign supreme as the main source of natural gas for Europe, coming to satisfy half of its demand by 2030. 

Already, the European Union’s gas import bill has swelled to ten times the usual for filling up winter storage sites because of the switch to LNG from pipeline gas. It’s worth noting that all that LNG was bought on the spot market, given that Brussels has been a fan of spot markets for years. 

Of course, US producers are happy to sell their liquefied gas on the spot market, where it fetches prices that just a couple of years ago would have been unthinkable. Media have even reported about cases of diverting cargos of LNG meant for Asia to Europe because of the Europeans' willingness to pay a premium to get the gas. 

While this year, such behavior is perfectly understandable as European countries scramble to stock up on gas for the winter, over the longer term, it would not exactly make economic sense. 

European industries are already struggling to remain profitable amid soaring energy bills. Yet many of them are too busy fighting for survival to bother about profitability, which should sound the alarm to governments and motivate a more comprehensive diversification of gas deliveries. 

Based on the Rystad research, Europe is essentially replacing one big supplier – Russia – with another big supplier – the United States – which can hardly pass for diversification. 

Sanctioning Russia is causing Europe to go into economic, political and social convulsions. You asked for it, Europe!