President Trump announced via Twitter Thursday that he won’t be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this year due to the partial government shutdown. The annual forum is set to begin on January 22, suggesting that the president expects the shutdown to last at least another 10 days. As a result of the shutdown and Trump’s absence at the event, the U.S. delegation to the forum will likely be a smaller-than-expected group of administration officials led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. A person close to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen told CNBC that if Trump does not go to the meeting, she will also not attend.
The elite annual conference in Switzerland brings together business executives and world leaders. This year’s theme is “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Opponents of the president will be attending, as well. George Soros, the liberal billionaire and high-profile Trump critic, says he will be at Davos this year, according to his spokesperson.