26 January 2018 10:56 am
President Donald Trump landed Thursday in Switzerland, determined to push an ‘America First’ agenda which is already upending the annual Davos conference.
Trump waved to a bank of cameras when he arrived, before being immediately whisked away to the annual gathering of heads of state and business leaders.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel took on isolationism and protectionism in her remarks here Wednesday, while French President Emmanuel Macron took a dig at Trump over global warming. Trump’s advisors have forecast that he will give a full-throated defence of his ‘America First’ policies in a Friday speech, at a time when the conference is wrapping up.
The president was not accompanied by his wife Melania, who pulled out of the trip at short notice following allegations that he had an affair with a porn star. But it was Trump’s unexpected comments about Robert Mueller’s Russia probe that made headlines as he took off for Europe.
‘I’m looking forward to it, actually,’ Trump, told reporters in a surprise press availability in the White House. ‘I would do it under oath,’ he said.Trump’s posture – wary of global pacts to fight climate change and blasting global trade deals as a ‘ripoff’ to the U.S. – are seen as adverse to some of the overall sentiment at an event that brings celebrities, politicians and leaders from around the world together.
The theme of the 2018 conference is ‘Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.’
Davos, (daily Mail), 25 January 2018