U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he leaves the congress centre during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 21, 2026.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Wednesday gave an interview to CNBC’s Joe Kernen on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The conversation came hours after Trump addressed foreign leaders and business executives in Davos, and shortly after he made headlines by announcing he had “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” the Danish-owned island that he had insisted must belong to the United States.
Here are the five top five takeaways from Trump’s interview:
1. Greenland deal will last ‘forever’
Trump told CNBC that he struck a “concept of a deal” on Greenland after meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday.
Trump, in announcing on Truth Social that a framework was now in place, also said that tariffs he announced last week on imports from European countries that opposed a U.S. takeover of Greenland would not take effect.
President Donald Trump speaks with CNBC’s Joe Kernen at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21, 2026.
CNBC
“I think it’s going to be a very good deal for the United States, also for them, and we’re going to work together on something having to do with the Arctic as a whole, but also Greenland, and it has to do with the security … and other things,” Trump said.
“They’re going to be involved in the Golden Dome, and they’re going to be involved in mineral rights, and so are we.”
Trump said the framework around Greenland will last “forever.”
2. The next Fed chair may have already been picked
Trump said he may have made his pick for the next chair of the Federal Reserve — but declined to identify that person.
“I’d say we’re down to three, but we’re down to two,” he said.
“And I probably can tell you, we’re down to maybe one, in my mind,” Trump said.
Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, current Governor Christopher Waller, National Economic Council chief Kevin Hassett, and BlackRock fixed income head Rick Rieder are all in the mix for the position.
Current Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May. Powell recently revealed he was under investigation by the Justice Department in connection with the costly renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has threatened to block any Fed nominee until Powell’s investigation is over.
“I don’t know about Thom Tillis, but you know, he’s not going to be a senator too much longer,” Trump said. “Whatever, I mean, whatever it is, you know, life, whatever.”
3. Trump loves a strict credit card rate cap
The president doubled down on his proposal to cap credit card interest at 10% for one year, while acknowledging that the idea “sounds like” something proposed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist.
“I love it,” Trump said of his plan.
He said that during a recent phone call with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who has been a staunch critic of his, “she was very happy” with his proposal.
Trump said that the interest rates that millions of Americans face when they do not, or cannot, pay off their monthly credit card balance are too high.
“You know, whatever happened to usury? They can’t pay 28%,” he said.
“I’ve had calls from credit card companies, people that are friends of mine, actually, and I treat them good. I respect them greatly, but they make a lot of money,” Trump said.
“You know, people go out, they buy something, and if they’re a little bit late, they’re paying 28%, they end up filing for bankruptcy.”
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, during a talk earlier Wednesday at Davos, said that Trump’s cap would be a disaster.
Trump has been making a push to address affordability in recent weeks as polls continue to show lower approval ratings for his handling of the economy.
4. Iran ‘hopes’
Trump said he hopes there will be no need for further U.S. military action in Iran as the Iranian government responds to domestic protests.
“We hope there’s not going to be further action,” the president said, while declining to rule out such action.
Trump launched a strike in Iran in June targeting sites related to the country’s nuclear program.
“They gotta stop with the nuclear,” Trump told CNBC on Wednesday.
Trump has weighed strikes in Iran since the initial action, and he has ratcheted up his threats in response to protests there that were met with lethal force by the regime.
5. ‘We want people to be able to buy a home’
Trump elaborated on his plan to block large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, a day after signing an executive order aimed at stopping Wall Street from competing with homebuyers.
“You have these big companies, these big corporations, buying up thousands of homes and renting them or doing whatever they do with them,” Trump said.
“It got to be too much … we want people to be able to buy a home.”
Blocking Wall Street from buying homes has been a priority for some Democratic elected officials.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., last week introduced a bill to block such buy-ups.
“People say are you a conservative, yeah but I’m a common-sense person,” Trump said, referring to his proposals aimed at increasing affordability.
Read the original article here