European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde reportedly walked out of a high-profile dinner at the World Economic Forum in Davos after a speech by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, which was heavily critical of Europe, sparked heckling and led to the event being cut short.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that Ms Lagarde departed during a particularly scathing passage of Mr Lutnick’s address on Tuesday night, which prompted heckles from attendees.
The exclusive gathering, hosted by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, a co-chairman of the WEF, brought together hundreds of major forum members, heads of state, and other dignitaries.
Following the heckling and subsequent walkouts, Mr Fink reportedly concluded the dinner prematurely, before dessert was served, according to one of the sources present.
The Financial Times also cited sources that said that Lutnick was heckled at the event.
There was uproar following combative remarks from Lutnick, with widespread jeering, guests exiting and appeals for calm from Fink, their report added, without going into details on Lutnick’s comments or what the hecklers said.
The ECB declined to comment on the report. The U.S. Commerce Department and the World Economic Forum did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand to take over Greenland has been met with fierce, emotional opposition from European leaders.
Speaking on Wednesday at Davos, Mr Trump called for “immediate negotiations” for the US to acquire Greenland. He insisted he will not use force to acquire the territory.
He said the US “probably won’t get anything” unless he decided to “use excessive strength and force” that he said would make the US “frankly unstoppable”.
“But I won’t do that. OK?” Mr Trump said.
He added a minute later: “I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”
The president also lashed out at Denmark for being “ungrateful” for the US protection of the Arctic island during the Second World War and continued to make his case that the US needs to control the island for the sake of national security.
“This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America,” Mr Trump said. “That’s our territory.”