Farewell from the Alps with the Davos Awards

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Jan 20, 2024 View in browser   By Suzanne Lynch Presented by GREETINGS for the last time from Davos, where Global Playbook is wrapping up an action-packed week of discussion, analysis and partying at the World Economic Forum. As the boarding and ads came down in record time Friday afternoon and the last helicopters took off, the tiny Swiss town returned to some semblance of normality. Who had the best soirée this week? Find the answer below in our inaugural Davos Awards, dished out by POLITICO’s on-the-ground team for the best parties, speeches, merch and more. But first … STARCH FEST: White badge-holders enjoyed a carb-heavy buffet meal at the Farewell Lunch at the mountain-top Schatzalp Friday, where spätzle, potato casserole and fondue were flowing. Also on display: St Bernard dogs and alphorns, adding a bit of Swiss schmaltz to the final-day proceedings. What goes on tour stays on tour: There was more hearty fare at the Media Farewell Dinner, where some of the 400 journalists who’ve been working hard all week gathered for the traditional fondue feast and some much-needed R&R after a busy week. (In full solidarity with our profession, POLITICO will not disclose any after-hours details.) WEF staffers enjoyed their own well-earned party last night.   A message from IBM: IBM has for more than a century brought powerful new technologies like AI into the world with trust. Now, our watsonx.governance platform helps organizations manage their AI responsibly at enterprise scale and prepare for AI regulations coming worldwide. See how it works at ibm.com/governance.   Final Davos forecast: Sunny, lows of -19C/-3F, highs of -7C/19F — perfect for hitting the slopes. THE DONALD WEIGHS ON DAVOS YUP, WE HEAR YOU CHRISTIAN: “We’re talking too much about Donald Trump in Europe,” declared German Finance Minister Christian Lindner during the final WEF panel Friday, bringing some welcome Teutonic bluntness to the debate that has dominated discussion this week: the upcoming U.S. election. Fending for ourselves: Lindner added that “doing our homework is the best preparation for a possible second term of Donald Trump, and this includes our capabilities to defend ourselves.” Real worries: Linder captured a truth few want to publicly acknowledge: Europe is terrified a second Trump presidency will leave the EU holding the baby when it comes to helping Ukraine. TODAY’S POLITICO MUST READ: My colleague Alex Ward has this excellent wrap-up piece from Davos, writing that top U.S. officials and lawmakers found themselves constantly reassuring foreign counterparts that the United States had everything under control, despite the mess in the Middle East, the Ukraine wobbles, and the Donald looming over it all. NOTABLE QUOTABLES Here’s a sample of what the Davos crowd had to say about the coming US election … AUSTRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ALEXANDER SCHALLENBERG: “We should refrain from treating elections, whether in Europe or in the U.S., as a source of insecurity and instability, as a problem,” Alexander Schallenberg said, in reference to the upcoming U.S. ballot. “Elections are the very heart of our democratic system.” Don’t despair: The Austrian foreign minister insisted EU support for Ukraine would hold regardless of what happens in the U.S. — and despite minimal progress in Kyiv’s counter-offensive. “Europe understands perfectly well that we have to stand by Ukraine, we have to support Ukraine and we will continue to do so. We should be very cautious about saying that the campaign didn’t achieve the results people didn’t expect — there was probably a mismanagement of expectations in the first place. We shouldn’t despair — we need the longer lens.” EU TRADE COMMISSIONER VALDIS DOMBROVSKIS: The three-term former Latvian prime minister urged Europe to seize the moment. “We need to ramp up our own capabilities,” Valdis Dombrovskis said. “We need to clearly be at a much higher level of preparedness as regards military capabilities but also as regards economic security and economic resilience.” Background: The U.S. is not the only Ukraine-ally struggling to agree funds for Kyiv — the EU is locked in discussions about releasing a €50 billion aid package promised to Ukraine, amid resistance from Hungary. JPMORGAN CHASE CEO JAMIE DIMON: But it was the view of the business community that grabbed attention this week, with top CEO Jamie Dimon making waves with his supportive comments on Trump. Though Dimon’s point was a good one — Democrats shouldn’t repeat the mistake of patronizing Trump supporters — his claim that the former U.S. president was right on a range of policy issues has gone down badly with Democrats. Brushing off the CV? The comments have sparked speculation about Dimon’s potential game plan. Could he fancy himself the next Gary Cohn or Steven Mnuchin? Is he eyeing a job in a future Trump administration? Let’s see next year, when the World Economic Forum is likely to take place just after the U.S. presidential inauguration. BANK OF AMERICA CEO BRIAN MOYNIHAN: Speaking to my colleague Zach Warmbrodt, Brian Moynihan took a long-term view, noting that his bank — the second-largest in the U.S. — dates back to 1784. “There have been some interesting elections in that time,” he said. “We just have to be ready.” Democracy alert: But another executive described “a lot of hand-wringing about what a Trump presidency would mean.” The executive told Zach: “There are certainly people who believe that the Democrats have gone too far in different areas of regulation. But also, people are very fearful of the anti-democratic notions that would come along [under Trump], what that would mean for American business.” UK CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER JEREMY HUNT: Britain’s top finance minister Jeremy Hunt was more direct, issuing a warning to Trump that a return to U.S. protectionism would be a “profound mistake” if he wins the U.S. election in November. Reality check: With a U.K. election on the cards this year and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party tanking in the polls, who knows if Hunt will still be in his job by the time the next U.S. president takes office.   A message from IBM:   DAVOS AWARDS NOW FOR THE GONGS: Avid Global Playbook readers will know we’ve been conscientiously pounding the pavements this week, sussing out the top off-piste pavilions and parties. Here are our picks of the best of WEF this year. Best party: Bank of America/RED nightcap at Goals House — a winning mix of political, business and celeb royalty, with a chilled-out vibe. Britain’s Princess Beatrice, illusionist David Blaine, living legend Sting and General Mark Milley all in the one place. Best speech: Love him or loathe him, Argentinian President Javier Milei delivered the standout speech of WEF 2024 — a fiery monologue on the virtues of capitalism and the evils of socialism. Such was his evident pride in his performance that he tweeted a laudatory article in the New York Post (in between retweets of Donald Trump and Elon Musk). Best cocktail: The negronis at POLITICO’s party at the Schatzalp Thursday night. Best playlist: It’s hard to beat the late-night tunes offered by Davos’ very own Billy Joel, aka Barry Colson, who kept the crowds grooving into the wee hours. But a close second was the sleepy-looking Morosani Hotel, which played a funky selection of 80s hits during the crucial 5 p.m.-7 p.m. time slot, getting people into the pre-dinner mood. Most exclusive party: Bill Browder’s closed-door event Monday night at Ochsen Steakhouse. The U.S. businessman who has been a tireless critic of Russia and advocate for Ukraine, brought together an A list of bank CEOs, investors, editors and political activists for conversation over juicy steaks. Best dressed: European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde rockin’ the ski-chic look, strolling through the Belvedere without a posse of security, wearing a gray puffer jacket and mittens. Best merch: Filecoin Foundation knocked everyone else out of the park with their signature Filecoin Corgi — a cutesy stuffed toy known as Biscuit who pops up in different outfits at global events. This year, visitors were given the latest incarnation of Biscuit, looking dapper in ski gear. Best pavilion: Ukraine House (sorry Meta), with its seamless security checks (wink, wink Belvedere), its tranquil, work-friendly underground café, and the quality of its panels. The Ukrainians took over the spacious spot at Promenade 59 — a furniture store in non-WEF times — for the second year in a row. The all-women-run pavilion (military-aged men aren’t allowed to leave Ukraine) featured a stirring “Russian war crimes” map, as well as three gigantic screens showing cute TikTok videos filmed by Ukrainians (h/t Paul de Villepin). SPOTTED — Regular people walking along the promenade in full ski gear as the Davos crowd cleared out and normal alpine life resumed. — At the Media Farewell Dinner in the Central Sporthotel: NBC’s Keir Simmons and Natasha Lebedeva, Daniel Hügli of Cash, Méabh Mc Mahon of Euronews, Le Figaro’s Fabrice Nodé-Langlois and Ivan Letessier, Szu Ping Chan and Matt Oliver from the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail’s John-Paul Ford Rojas, POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi and many more. PROGRAMMING NOTE SEE YOU SOON: That’s it from Global Playbook at Davos. Our next stop is the Munich Security Conference next month, but we’ll be back in your inboxes before then, so do get in touch with any thoughts or insights from the World Economic Forum. Thanks to the POLITICO team at WEF: Cristina Gonzalez, Nahal Toosi, Zach Warmbrodt, Alex Ward, Anne McElvoy, John Harris, Paul de Villepin and Jamil Anderlini. Global Playbook couldn’t happen without Global Playbook Editor Zoya Sheftalovich.   A message from IBM: Before you can use AI to help get where you’re going, you need to trust what it’s doing. IBM’s watsonx.governance platform helps organizations manage their AI responsibly at enterprise scale and prepare for AI regulations coming worldwide. Watsonx.governance lets IBM clients manage their AI models over their entire lifecycle. This end-to-end, automated governance solution helps mitigate AI risks and improves compliance so businesses can utilize responsible AI to its full potential. See how it works at ibm.com/governance.     Follow us on Twitter Suzanne Lynch @suzannelynch1   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  Global Playbook  |  West Wing Playbook  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook  |  Paris Playbook Follow us

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