(CNN)President Donald Trump is expected to go to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum later this month after not attending the conference last year because of the government shutdown, a White House official told CNN on Wednesday.
The annual conference brings together powerful executives, finance ministers and other members of the global elite. Trump attended the summit in 2018 and was pleased with the reception he received, people who spoke to him afterward told CNN at the time.
According to a White House press release, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will lead the delegation, which will include presidential advisers and Trump family members Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, as well as several members of the President’s Cabinet. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will be among the nine-person presidential delegation to the mountainside conference.
The President blamed congressional Democrats last year when he announced his decision not to attend two weeks before the conference.
“Because of the Democrats intransigence on Border Security and the great importance of Safety for our Nation, I am respectfully cancelling my very important trip to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum,” he wrote. “My warmest regards and apologies to the @WEF!”
A week later, Trump canceled the trip for the entire US delegation because of the shutdown.
Trump was not the only world leader who did not attend last year. Then-British Prime Minister Theresa May called off her visit after suffering a stinging defeat on Brexit, and French President Emmanuel Macron, who was struggling to stop street protests, also skipped the forum. Neither Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was grappling with a slowing economy, nor Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was fighting for a second term, made an appearance.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/01/politics/trump-to-attend-davos/index.html
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