WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is ready to play salesman at an economic summit in the Swiss Alps, making the case that his “America First” agenda can go hand-in-hand with global cooperation.
Trump is set to arrive at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday to declare that the United States is open for business. But the protectionist-leaning president’s attendance at an annual gathering for free-trade-loving political and business elites has raised eyebrows. And his decision to sign new tariffs boosting American manufacturers this week has prompted fresh concerns about his nationalist tendencies.
“I’m going to Davos right now to get people to invest in the United States,” Trump said Wednesday before his overnight flight to Europe. “I’m going to say: ‘Come into the United States. You have plenty of money.’ But I don’t think I have to go, because they’re coming, they’re coming at a very fast clip.”
In a tweet sent before departing the White House Trump said, “Our economy is now booming and with all I am doing, will only get better…Our country is finally WINNING again!”
Steven Mnuchin, United States Secretary of the Treasury, walks through the snow during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Willbur L. Ross, Secretary of Commerce of the United States, attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin got to Davos ahead of Trump and insisted Wednesday that the United States supports free trade.