ECB’s Lagarde left Davos dinner after Lutnick slammed Europe
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde abruptly walked out of an invitation-only sit-down dinner in Davos after United States Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick started laying into Europe , according to people familiar with the matter.
The VIP event on Tuesday evening was attended by more than 100 people and featured Lutnick as the final speaker, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing private matters.
Lutnick’s speech to the dinner guests belittled European economies and their lack of competitiveness compared to the U.S.’s prowess. It made several Europeans in the room uncomfortable and as the criticism escalated, Lagarde was seen exiting, the people said.
The U.S. official was described as having a bad seat at the back of the room and his remarks were met with some booing, one person said. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was placed at the head table, which also featured Blackrock Inc. chief executive Larry Fink.
The ECB president is a former French finance minister and also headed the International Monetary Fund for most of Trump’s first term. She started warning in early 2024 that his return to the White House could spell trouble for Europe.
The ECB declined to comment. A spokesperson for Lutnick didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
One European CEO, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lagarde was right to walk out of that dinner and that Europe needed to start standing up for itself .
New World Order
Lagarde on Wednesday morning spoke with RTL radio, highlighting that “we are seeing the curtain come up on a new world order.”
“Threatening to take a territory like Greenland that is not for sale, and brandishing tariffs and restrictions on global trade, isn’t really behaving like an ally,” she said. “This new world order must lead us to deeply revise the way we organize our economy in Europe, in the way we build ties with other countries in the world who play by the same rules as us.”
Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive Jamie Dimon said he’d use a different tack than president Donald Trump in addressing U.S. differences with Europe, with the goal of making the region stronger instead of more fragmented.
“I would be more polite about it, about the weaknesses of Europe,” he said.
The Davos dinner incident was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
—With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse, William Horobin and Yizhu Wang.