WEF: Trump to speak virtually, Zelensky to appear in person
US President-elect Donald Trump will attend this year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos via video conference. He is scheduled to speak on January 23.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will arrive in the Swiss mountain resort in person, WEF President Børge Brende said on Tuesday.
This year’s edition of the event will be held from January 20-24. Trump, whose official inauguration is scheduled for Monday, will take part in the forum for the third time after those during his first term in the Oval Office, in 2018 and 2020.
According to Brende, speaking at a virtual press conference, additional key members of the new US administration are also expected to attend, but there has been no confirmation so far. Asked whether Elon Musk might be among them, the Norwegian replied: “We don’t know. He is certainly welcome.”
+ Switzerland renews support for WEF for 2025-2027
As for Zelensky, this will be his second appearance in Davos in a row. The Ukrainian president will be in Graubünden on January 21, Brende said. Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, announced last week that she would organise a meeting with Zelensky.
‘Intelligent age’
Nearly 3,000 guests, including prominent politicians (more than 60 heads of state and government), business leaders and representatives of various industries, will gather in Davos to discuss global challenges. This year’s slogan is “The Intelligent Age: A time for cooperation.”
The WEF will kick off on Monday, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. Argentine President Javier Milei, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, and the de facto foreign minister of the new Syrian government Asaad Hassan al-Shaybani will also be present.
Translated from Italian by DeepL/ts
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
More
In Switzerland, New Year brings ‘burka ban’ and pension hikes
More
Thousands of emigrants’ descendants in Argentina demand Swiss citizenship
More
Aussie adoptee gains Swiss citizenship at 54 thanks to old envelope
More
Solothurn, the Swiss city that goes up to 11
More
New Year’s speech: President Keller-Sutter praises Swiss modesty
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.