Trump says willing to get along with Beijing

DAVOS, Switzerland — US President Donald Trump said his government looks forward to "doing very well with China and getting along with China" during a virtual address delivered to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.

Trump emphasized that the leaders of the United States and China are going to have a "very good relationship".

Addressing the ongoing situation in Ukraine, Trump acknowledged China's role and expressed hope for cooperation. "Hopefully, we could work together and get that (armed conflict) stopped," he said.

Also on the conflict, Trump said on Thursday he wanted to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible to secure an end to the conflict with Ukraine and expressed a desire to work toward cutting nuclear arms.

In the run-up to his Nov 5 election victory, Trump declared many times that he would have a deal in place between Ukraine and Russia on his first day in office, if not before.

"I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended," Trump, who returned to the White House on Monday, told the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"And that's not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It's from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted … It's a carnage. And we really have to stop that war."

Trump also voiced concerns over rising oil prices, adding that he would ask Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to bring down costs.

He stressed that his administration favored more US drilling for oil and the use of what he called "good clean coal" compared to former president Joe Biden.

"The United States has the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we're going to use it," Trump said.

In the virtual meeting, Trump also warned the European leaders and executives in attendance that NATO allies should not expect to be immune from US tariffs.

"I'm trying to be constructive because I love Europe. I love the countries of Europe," he said. "But the processes are very cumbersome.… They do treat the United States of America very, very unfairly with the bad taxes and all of the other taxes they impose."

Trump is no stranger to the Davos meeting, where CEOs, startup visionaries, government leaders, world-class academics and other elites gather in the snowy Swiss town of Davos each January. He came twice during his first term.