DAVOS, Switzerland — On the campaign trail, Donald Trump the candidate decried what he called “the false song of globalism.” A year after taking office, President Trump came Friday to tell the elites at Davos, who composed the song, that maybe they could still perform in harmony.

In an encounter that might have surprised him two years ago, Trump reassured the world’s political and financial elite that his “America First” agenda was not a rejection of international cooperation. The combative nationalist gave way to the let’s-make-a-deal businessman, as he invited them to invest in what he called a resurgent United States.

“I believe in America,” Trump told a jampacked auditorium on the last day of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. “As president of the United States, I will always put America first, just like the leaders of other countries should put their country first also. But America first does not mean America alone. When the United States grows, so does the world.”

That did not mean Trump has joined the globalism chorus. He has spent much of the last year trying to dismantle the international political and economic system represented by the Davos consensus — ripping up or renegotiating trade agreements, threatening or imposing tariffs on imports and working to curb the flow of immigration. In his speech Friday, Trump insisted that cross-border trade had to be made fairer and vowed to take action against predatory practices.

“We cannot have free and open trade if some countries exploit the system at the expense of others,” he said. “We support free trade, but it needs to be fair, and it needs to be reciprocal because, in the end, unfair trade undermines us all. The United States will no longer turn a blind eye to unfair economic practices.”

But his unlikely visit to Davos was meant to be a shift in tone from his populist, protectionist rhetoric. He went so far as to say that he would be willing to re-enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Asian trade agreement he abandoned last year, if it was renegotiated on better terms. That offer came just days after the other 11 members opted to form their own bloc without the United States.

“We would consider negotiating with the rest, either individually, or perhaps as a group, if it is in the interests of all,” Trump said, despite his oft-stated insistence on one-on-one trade deals rather than multinational pacts.

Trump was largely well received by the billionaire investors, corporate executives and heads of state who a year ago were fretting that Trump’s election would mean the demise of the global order they had built but today were celebrating his tax cuts and regulatory rollback.

“The economy has improved since Trump came in,” said Kanika Dewan, president of Bramco, a company that builds airports around the globe from headquarters in New Delhi and Bahrain. “His offensive comments are mostly about capturing media attention. At the end of the day, he’s not going to do anything to destroy his legacy.”