U.S. President Donald Trump will attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, this week as he continues to challenge the established world order with a series of geopolitical victories and the promise of more to come.
Since returning to the White House the president has withdrawn from numerous wasteful and unaccountable international organizations, including the U.N. climate treaty, captured Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro following an attack on the capital Caracas and is now looking to annex Greenland.
He has also challenged members of the NATO alliance to step up and start paying their way without relying so much on U.S. taxpayer dollars.
Trump will be joined this year by more than 60 heads of state and government at the snowy confab of corporate and cultural elites.
Among them are Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Argentinian President Javier Milei, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
DW reports Trump is leading the largest U.S. delegation ever to Davos, comprising five cabinet secretaries and other senior officials.
Final preparations are underway in Davos as the town gets ready to welcome guests for the World Economic Forum on January 17, 2026 in Switzerland. The annual meeting brings together leaders from government, business and civil society to discuss major global issues. (Elena Romanova/Getty)
The delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, setting the stage for high-profile discussions on Ukraine, Venezuela, Gaza and Iran, where eyewitnesses have reported a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, DW notes before continuing:
Trump is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyiv’s G7 allies — including leaders from Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Canada and the European Commission president — on the sidelines of the main event to seek US backing for security guarantees for Ukraine after a possible peace agreement with Russia, the Financial Times reported.
The strong U.S. presence would be complemented by the first-ever “USA House” — a venue housed in a small church on the town’s main Promenade street, where US officials will host events and network with investors.
Added to the list is California Governor Gavin Newsom, a determined Trump foe slated to speak one day after the president’s address.
“Trump’s economic agenda betrays our nation: it is not ‘America First’ but ‘Trump First’ — rewarding the favored, punishing the dissenters, and burdening the rest,” Newsom said in a statement as reported by Politico.
“At the World Economic Forum, I will forcefully confront these abuses and resolutely defend the principles to which California owes its economic strength: disciplined governance, world-leading universities, boundless innovation, and an open embrace of global cultures.
This year’s meeting would be the first without WEF founder Klaus Schwab at the helm after he stepped down last year.
Schwab has been succeeded by interim co-chairs Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, and Andre Hoffmann, vice chair of Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche Holdings.
President Trump will front the gathering in person on Wednesday after last year making his address remotely via via videostream.
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