Donald Trump will speak online at the annual meeting of the global political and business elite in Davos next week, days after taking over as US president, the World Economic Forum said on Tuesday.
Trump will be sworn in at the US Capitol in Washington on Monday, January 20, the first day of the WEF gathering in the Swiss Alps.
“He will join us digitally on January 23,” WEF President Borge Brende said at a press briefing previewing the annual meeting.
“We think this will be a very special moment to find out what the new administration stands for in terms of its policy priorities,” Brende said.
The US President’s return to the White House was already expected to dominate the discussion at Davos, a gathering he attended in person during his first term in office.
His plans to cut taxes and impose trade tariffs have raised concerns that his policies will lead to inflation again.
Trump’s thinking stands in stark contrast to the multilateralism espoused at Davos, where this year the forum’s agenda is organized under the official theme “Cooperation for an Intelligent Age.”
Borge said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang will also address the WEF.
Trump started a trade war with China during his first term and his incoming administration is expected to face more tariffs, but US allies like the European Union could also be in the line of fire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country is fighting Russian aggression, will deliver a “special address” to the WEF on Tuesday.
Trump has promised to end the fighting quickly when he enters office next week, raising fears in Ukraine that he will be forced to make major territorial concessions in exchange for peace.
– Miley and the leaders of the Middle East –
Borge said 350 top government officials and more than 900 CEOs will participate in this year’s WEF.
Trump became the first sitting US president to attend in nearly two decades with his 2018 visit and will follow that up with another visit in 2020.
On the world stage, many incumbents have been ousted by their like-minded leaders in the elections in 2024.
One of his admirers, Argentine President Javier Meili, will return to Davos this year after a fiery maiden speech in 2024.
While Trump has inherited several crises in the Middle East, the WEF will host Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa as well as Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Assad al-Shaibani, Syria’s interim foreign minister after Islamist-backed rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad last month, will also attend the Davos forum.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
