Former President Donald Trump was reportedly a hot topic of conversation among business and political leaders this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Details: Reports often differed in characterizing Davos attendees’ attitudes; CNN (Lean Left bias) said European leaders “dread” Trump’s possible return, and CNBC (Center bias) said U.S. business leaders see “no cause for concern.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy critiqued Trump’s comments on Ukraine aid in a Q and A. Many attendees told news outlets they expected Trump to win the 2024 election; however, Open Society Foundations Chairman Alex Soros said, “That’s a good thing, because the Davos consensus is always wrong.” Meanwhile, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts told the gathered elites they were “part of the problem.” 

For Context: Trump had a particularly contentious relationship with Western foreign leaders during his presidency; those same leaders are now grappling with the possibility of his return. On January 10, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Trump told her in 2020 that the U.S. would “never” defend Europe if it was attacked.

How the Media Covered It: Coverage of the economic conference was naturally most common in business outlets, with CNBC and Bloomberg (Lean Left bias) publishing several articles on Trump discussions at Davos. Sensationalism was common; some outlets like Politico (Lean Left bias) described Trump as a “ghost” haunting the conference. Many right-rated outlets focused solely on Roberts’ speech and criticized elites for being too liberal.