Trump to make 'digital' appearance at global elite's Davos meeting

Donald Trump will make an online appearance at the annual meeting of global political and business elites in Davos next week, days after he takes office as US president, the World Economic Forum said on Tuesday.

Trump will be sworn in next Monday, the first day of the WEF gathering in the Swiss Alps.

"He will join us digitally" on Thursday, January 23, WEF president Borge Brende said in a press briefing previewing the annual meeting, adding it would be a "very special moment" to learn more about the new US administration's plans.

"There is a lot of interest, of course, among our participants — also the rest of the world — to decipher and understand the policies of the new administration," he said.

The US president's return to the White House was already expected to dominate discussions in Davos, a gathering that he attended in person during his first term in office.

Brende said organisers expected "high-level representation" from the Trump administration during the last few days of WEF, which closes January 24.

Trump's plans to cut taxes and impose trade tariffs have raised concerns that his policies could rekindle inflation and stifle global economic growth.

Trading blows 

Trump's thinking is in stark contrast to the multilateralism championed at Davos, where the forum's agenda this year is held under the official theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age."

There will be a "different dynamic for this Davos," said Josh Lipsky, senior director of Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center, where attendees "will be reacting over the week to what's coming out of the new White House."

Brende said the meeting would be addressed by other high-level politicians including European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Trump launched a trade war with China during his first term and he is once again expected to target the Asian giant with tariffs, but US allies such as the European Union could also be in the line of fire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country is fighting against a Russian invasion, will give a "special address" to the WEF on Tuesday.

Trump has promised to bring a swift end to the fighting when he enters office next week, raising fears in Ukraine that it will be forced to make major territorial concessions in exchange for peace.

Milei and Mideast leaders

Brende said 350 top government officials and more than 900 CEOs will attend this year's WEF among a total of nearly 3,000 participants.

Trump became the first sitting US president to attend in nearly two decades with his 2018 trip followed by another in 2020.

On the world stage, he has been increasingly joined by leaders of a similar persuasion after elections in 2024 saw incumbents pushed out.

One of his admirers, Argentina's President Javier Milei, will return to Davos this year after a fiery debut speech in 2024.

"We're seeing the re-emergence of countries thinking about their national interest," said Karen Harris, an economist at the consulting firm Bain & Company.

While Trump inherits multiple crises in the Middle East, the WEF will host Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa as well as Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Syria's Interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani will also take part, weeks after Islamist-backed rebels toppled president Bashar al-Assad.

Away from geopolitics, artificial intelligence will figure highly in discussions, with Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy among the attendees.

Football legend David Beckham and Melanie Brown, better known as Mel B from the Spice Girls, will sprinkle some celebrity stardust at the forum.