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No US government officials will travel to WEF

US government officials sit in a packed room at WEF
US government ministers and officials were out in force at last year's World Economic Forum. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The United States government shutdown has forced the Trump administration to cancel its entire delegation to this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF).

A White House spokesperson confirmed that finance minister Steven Mnuchin and trade minister Wilbur Ross will not be travelling to Davos. President r had previously said he could not attend WEF’s showcase event that takes place next week.

The pull-out scuppers plans by Switzerland to use the WEF meeting of political and business leaders to revive free trade agreement talks between the two countries that have lain dormant for more than a decade.

WEFExternal link, which runs from January 22-25 this year, has been shorn of several government heads, who have been forced to stay at home to deal with problematic situations in their home countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron will remain in France to deal with a protest movement against a proposed fuel tax. And British Prime Minister Theresa May has also been forced to cancel her trip to Davos in the wake of a parliamentary rejection of a proposed Brexit deal.

WEF’s Global Risk Report, released on Wednesday, said worsening international relations present a major risk of allowing growing global problems to get out of hand.

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View of Davos under fresh snow

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Why Trump’s absence could benefit Davos

This content was published on If this year’s World Economic Forum does indeed take place without US President Donald Trump, it won’t matter too much, say some Swiss media.

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