Government shutdown threatens Trump's trip to the World Economic Forum


President Trump's trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is officially on hold due to the government shutdown, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told NBC News. Trump is not likely to be particularly missed at the conference, though, where the theme of the year is "Creating a Shared Future in Fractured World" and where Trump had planned to bring his "America First" message, The Associated Press reports.
"I find it quite sad he's coming to the WEF, but I imagine nothing can be done about it," said Buddhist monk and Dalai Lama disciple Matthieu Ricard ahead of Trump's decision to put his visit to the forum on hold. WEF founder Klaus Schwab had said earlier Monday that it would be "good to have the president here, if the snow conditions and the situation in Washington allow us."
The United States' 12-person delegation to the forum was to include two women, not an entirely surprising number when considering that just 21 percent of the WEF's attendees are women. Still, the conference is making history this year with an all-woman team of co-chairs, NDTV reports, including "a union boss, a nuclear physicist, two company heads, a financial organization leader, an economist, and the prime minister of Norway."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Depending how the week goes in Washington, Trump could potentially still make it to the conference, which runs Tuesday through Saturday. He is scheduled to speak at the forum Friday, although getting Trump to Switzerland gets "more and more logistically challenging every day," Marc Short, the White House legislative affairs director, told CNN.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
The best shows to see at Edinburgh Fringe 2025
The Week Recommends The world's biggest arts festival is back with an incredible line-up
-
Wonsan-Kalma: North Korea's new 'mammoth' beach resort
Under the Radar Pyongyang wants to boost tourism but there won't be many foreign visitors to Kim Jong Un's 'pet project'
-
The 5 best TV reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Finding an entirely new cast to play beloved characters is harder than it looks
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities