Speaking virtually to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Donald Trump addressed the issue of banks discriminating against conservatives, directly calling out Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan. He accused banks of not allowing conservatives to do business within their institutions.
"Many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America," he said. "I hope you're going to open your banks to conservatives because what you're doing is wrong."
In a public statement, Bank of America said it "welcomes conservatives" and would "never close accounts for political reasons and don't have a political litmus test."
The US president also criticized the European Union’s regulatory actions against U.S. tech giants, like Meta, Apple, and Google. He described the EU’s actions as “a form of taxation,” referring to a court case where Apple was forced to pay back taxes amounting to $14 billion in Ireland.
"Whether you like them or not, they're American companies, and they shouldn't be doing that," he said.
In his remarks, Trump highlighted the importance of American companies manufacturing products in the United States, threatening tariffs on companies that do not comply. He proposed a corporate tax rate of 15% for companies that manufacture in the U.S., which he claimed would be the lowest rate of any large country. The president said his message to businesses worldwide was simple: Build in America or pay up.
"My message to every business in the world is very simple: Make your product in America," Trump said. "We will do the low taxes. We're bringing them down very substantially even from the original Trump tax cuts."
"If you don't make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff," he said.
The president has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, which he said could begin as early as February 1. Trump had proposed a 60% tariff on China during his presidential campaign.
Trump said he hopes the tariffs will incentivize both domestic and foreign companies to manufacture goods in the United States because "other nations take advantage of the US." He also sees tariffs as a means to pay down the national debt, lower inflation, and create jobs.
"Under the Trump administration, there will be no better place on earth to create jobs or build factories than right here in the USA," Trump said.
Trump also discussed his plans to ask Saudi Arabia to increase its investment in the U.S. and requested that OPEC reduce oil prices to help end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The president also thanked Saudi Arabia after it announced it would invest $600 billion in the US, but Trump added he would ask for more.
"It's also reported today in the papers that Saudi Arabia will be investing at least $600 billion in America. But I'll be asking the crown prince, who's a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion," Trump said, referring to Saudi Arabia's ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. "I think they'll do that because we've been very good to them."
"I'm also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil."
