White House press secretary says Air Force One turns around during flight to Davos after ‘minor electrical issue’

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt told reporters Tuesday night that Air Force One turned around mid-flight as President Donald Trump headed to Davos, Switzerland, after the crew discovered a “minor electrical issue.”

The plane turned back and was scheduled to land at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where the president and his passengers were scheduled to board a different plane and then resume travel to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Conference.

The flight issue came as Trump makes his first international trip in 2026.

In Davos, Trump is expected to deliver statements focusing on his vision of American hegemony, including his desire to control Greenland.

Trump’s increasingly combative language on the Danish land grab puts him at odds with NATO countries and other allies.

Trump will lead the largest US delegation to the World Economic Forum, according to event organizers, where he plans to meet with top business executives and international leaders, address conference attendees, and participate in a formal signing ceremony to strengthen his peace council that was proposed to oversee Gaza’s recovery, but has since raised questions about the possibility of expanding it to rival the United Nations.

This week, Trump will again face some of the world leaders he has spent months criticizing as he continues to test the limits of his presidential power and his standing in the world after weeks of renewed controversy over the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the seizure of the country’s oil and his public threats to seize Greenland by force, if necessary.

Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has been slowly building the case for why the United States should control Greenland, arguing that it is essential to America’s national security needs. In recent weeks, his rhetoric about seizing power has intensified, as he has refused to rule out military action.

Despite global rejection of his Greenland ambitions, Trump has refused to back down from his threats, saying “you’ll find out” when asked during a White House press conference on Tuesday how far he was willing to go to secure Greenland, while rejecting the lack of support for a US takeover.

When asked by ABC News’ Mary Bruce about the many Greenlanders who have been vocal about their disapproval of the idea of ​​American control, Trump said that once he talked to them, they would be “thrilled.”

In response to a question about the possible disintegration of NATO if the United States takes over Greenland, Trump said: “I think we will work to identify areas where NATO will be very happy and where we will be very happy. But we need it for security purposes. We need it for national security and even global security. It is very important.”

Trump later said: “We have a lot of meetings scheduled in Greenland. I’m leaving tonight, you know, Davos, and we have a lot of meetings scheduled in Greenland, and I think things are going to go very well, actually.”

“So I think something will happen and it will be very good for everyone,” he added.

However, the president’s optimistic outlook on reaching a solution that satisfies both sides comes as he increases his attacks on NATO countries seeking to protect Greenland. Over the weekend, Trump threatened to impose 10% tariffs on eight NATO countries starting February 1 if an agreement is not reached. The move stems in part from the countries’ decision to send a small contingent of troops to Greenland in the wake of Trump’s threats.

When Trump travels to Switzerland, the economic forum will focus on the “spirit of dialogue” about how to improve the world; However, before his departure, the president praised the success of his administration during his second term while criticizing the leadership of his European counterparts in a show of strength likely to be on display during his visit.

“I think more than anything else what I’m going to talk about is the tremendous success we’ve had in one year,” Trump said. “I didn’t think we could do it so quickly… We have the most successful country in the world. We have the hottest country anywhere in the world by far.”

“A lot of them could use some advice on what we did,” he said of European allies, continuing his criticism on energy and immigration.

Meanwhile, questions are swirling around the Peace Council, which was originally described as a committee overseeing the reconstruction of Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas.

Critics and government leaders are now criticizing the council, saying it undermines the United Nations.

The draft charter now says the peace council “will secure lasting peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” not just in Gaza. It also called for a “smarter and more effective international peacebuilding body.”

As part of his domestic agenda, Trump has for weeks been promoting the unveiling of “some of the boldest housing reforms in American history” in Davos, including banning major institutional investors from buying single-family homes and calling on the federal government to buy $200 billion worth of mortgage securities.

Trump’s speech comes months after the White House recast the country’s economic story as one of growth and falling prices due to Trump’s economic policies as the midterm election season approaches. The president has spent some time traveling across the country delivering this message to Americans, but now he will do so on the world stage.

Despite Trump’s rosy picture of the state of the US economy, voters continue to struggle with rising costs, and Republicans have been voicing concerns about messaging about the economy. When pressed about the division on Tuesday, Trump denied assertions that he had failed to meet the needs of Americans, once again placing blame on the Biden administration and calling the job he did as president a “miracle.”

ABC News’ Maryam Khan contributed to this report.