Trump to attend 2019 WEF meeting in Davos

US President Donald Trump at the WEF Congress Center on January 25, 2018 © KEYSTONE / LAURENT GILLIERON

United States President Donald Trump will attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2019 for the second time.

Trump’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that Trump would be attending the WEF meeting in Davos on January 22-25External link. He will head a dozen-strong US delegation alongside Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and assistants to the president, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

The annual elite gathering typically attracts around 3,000 business people, government officials and other movers and shakers to the Swiss resort in eastern Switzerland. 

Trump attended the 2018 WEF meeting for two days in January, becoming the first US president to attend the summit since Bill Clinton in 2000. During his highly-anticipated speech last year, Trump talked about America being “open for business” under his leadership, while reassuring the audience that “America First does not mean America alone”. 

+ Trump’s 2018 visit to the WEF in Davos

He held several high-level meetings such as with British Prime Minister Theresa May and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with European business executives from firms such as Nestlé, ABB and Novartis, in the interest of encouraging them to invest in the US. 

Trump also met Swiss President Alain Berset, who described their talk as productive and frank. Their discussions centred on economic questions and international concerns like North Korea and the importance of International Geneva, not just for Switzerland but also to support dialogue.  

His attendance in Davos had been the subject of much debate in Switzerland, as well as protests by anti-capitalist groups, leftwing parties and trade unions.