Corporate chiefs and government leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump swarm into Davos, Switzerland this week, joining an elite annual meeting that promotes dialogue and economic progress.
The World Economic Forum, the think tank whose four-day annual meeting opens Tuesday, has a stated motto of “improving the state of the world,” and this year’s theme is “A spirit of dialogue.”
Trump is expected to arrive in the Swiss resort on Wednesday, where he is due to deliver a special address.
Nearly 3,000 attendees from the interlinked worlds of business, advocacy and policy will tackle issues including the growing gap between rich and poor; AI’s impact on jobs; concerns about geo-economic conflict; tariffs that have rocked longstanding trade relationships; and an erosion of trust between communities and countries.
“It’s really going to be a discussion at a very important moment … geopolitics is changing,” said Mirek Dušek, a forum managing director in charge of programming. “Some people think we’re in a transition. Some people think we’ve already entered a new era. But I think it’s undeniable that you are seeing a more competitive, more contested landscape.”
The conference agenda has to some extent been overtaken by the U.S. president’s dramatic policy moves, including his demand in recent days that the United States take over Greenland.
Accordingly, national security advisers from a number of countries are due to meet on the sidelines of the event on Monday, with Greenland among the subjects on the agenda, diplomatic sources said.
One European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Greenland had been added to the agenda of the previously scheduled meeting after Trump threatened on Saturday to impose extra tariffs on eight European countries.
