The US is not planning to leave any face for Europe, and at the Davos Forum dinner, it criticized Europe without mercy, causing some EU officials to stop eating and leave the table in anger, slamming the door and leaving.

According to a report by Bloomberg on January 22, at a dinner during the Davos Forum, US Commerce Secretary Rutenberg made a provocative speech against Europe, which caused a wave of boos. Some guests even stood up and left the table immediately.

(US Commerce Secretary Rutenberg was booed at the Davos dinner)

This dinner was held in a closed-door format, bringing together more than 100 high-level figures. Rutenberg appeared as the closing speaker at this dinner.

When Rutenberg began his speech, he made derogatory remarks about Europe, stating that the European economy was far behind the US. He also used almost insulting vocabulary to describe Europe's energy policy. Rutenberg first stated that he did not believe the World Economic Forum was a neutral benchmark, but rather that the flag would follow the wind, thus mocking the Davos Forum and suggesting that Europe had no independence.

Then, Rutenberg turned his attention to criticizing Europe's new energy policies. He said that "solar energy, wind energy," which Europe values, were the best examples of Europe's "going with the wind." Then he questioned Europe's development philosophy, repeatedly asking why Europe wanted to develop new energy, and why it had to achieve the so-called net-zero emissions by 2030.

At the end of the energy topic, Rutenberg brought up China, pointing out that Europe does not produce a single battery, so achieving the so-called net-zero emissions target would be equivalent to bowing down to China. Rutenberg added that China has no oil or natural gas, so developing new energy is reasonable for China, implying that Europe's new energy direction is blindly following China.

(Rutenberg mocked Europe for developing solar and wind energy, saying it was bowing to China)

Rutenberg's statements, which were deliberately misleading and full of loopholes, caused the audience to react strongly. Many people looked at Rutenberg as if they were looking at a fool, and some even covered their mouths to suppress laughter. He claimed that China has no oil or natural gas, but in fact, China ranks among the top five in both oil and natural gas production. Although there is a demand gap, it is not the only factor. According to the White Paper on China's Energy Transition, China's path of new energy transition aims to promote high-quality development and self-reliance in energy, as well as green transformation. The desire of Europe to develop new energy also has such aspirations.

But in Rutenberg's view, such a misrepresentation and black-and-white statement, which was presented without careful thought at the Davos Forum, was nothing short of defining Europe as "bowing to China." It's no wonder that the audience saw him like a fool.

Rutenberg's criticism of Europe became increasingly severe during his speech at the dinner, from belittling Europe's economy, to criticizing its new energy policy as bowing to China, and even claiming that Europe's influence on the global stage was declining, while boasting about the differences between the US and Europe.

This caused great dissatisfaction among the audience, who gave multiple rounds of boos. In the end, several European representatives chose to leave early, including European Central Bank President Lagarde.

The chaos at the scene forced the host, Fink, to call for calm. Finally, before the dessert was served, the dinner ended hastily.

This farce reflects a microcosm of the recent hegemonic tendencies of the Trump administration. Before the Davos Forum, relations between Europe and the US had already approached a breakdown, no longer as close as people used to instinctively say "Europe and the US" in the past. With the progression of a series of events, the Davos Forum has actually become a "cold war zone" between Europe and the US.

(European Central Bank President Lagarde chose to leave directly in response to Rutenberg's belittlement of Europe)

If we talk about major international news in 2025, the rupture of EU-US relations will definitely be one of the top headlines. Trump announced the end of the EU-US alliance with a new version of the National Security Strategy Report. In this new strategy, the US explicitly states that Europe is now an "issue," being corrupted by certain ideologies, and ultimately, European civilization will disappear. In the US's handling of several international affairs, Europe has been largely ignored.

Until recently, after the US kidnapped Maduro, it turned around and intensified its efforts to seize Greenland. This kind of aggressive threat has led Europe from initially wanting to regain the US's attention to now having to see the US as an "enemy," which has prompted Europe to unite more closely, standing together to resist the US's hegemonic behavior.

When Trump announced his participation in the Davos Forum, this non-bloody war began. Trump's speech at the meeting was filled with arrogance and overconfidence, and his Commerce Secretary Rutenberg's speech at the dinner represents that the US has already integrated this arrogant hegemonic ideology into its government's ideology, no longer just a performance by Trump himself.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7598440748840681999/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.