Trump to cool off in Davos as trial heats up
US leader remains unfazed by impeachment proceedings
WASHINGTON: Far from feeling the heat, President Donald Trump will be chilling in Davos, a fancy Swiss ski resort, when the Senate hears opening arguments in his impeachment trial next week.
Trump is so confident that his Republican party majority will stay loyal that he sees no risk in jetting to Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum on Tuesday, right as lawmakers convene for the historic trial.
“I’m going to be going to Davos. I’ll be meeting the biggest business leaders in the world, getting them to come here. I’ll also be meeting with foreign leaders,” Trump told reporters at the White House as his trial formally began on Thursday.
The contrast in settings will be extreme.
In Washington, Democratic lawmakers will argue that Trump is a corrupt leader who abused his power by trying to strong-arm Ukraine into a fake investigation aimed at tarnishing a top election rival, Joe Biden. They’ll call for his removal from office.
More than 6,800km away, Trump will swagger through Davos as the forum’s unquestioned star.
Davos is where the world’s movers and shakers gather each year for informal discussions on weighty issues.
Detractors call it a talking shop for out-of-touch billionaires and celebrities, and this year most major international leaders are staying away.
The field will be clear for Trump to do what he does best – tout his achievements and suck up the attention.
“We are booming,” he said. “There’s nothing even close. Every world leader sees me and says ‘What have you done? This is the most incredible thing that
Every world leader sees me and says ‘What have you done? This is the most incredible thing that we’ve ever seen.’ Donald Trump
we’ve ever seen.’”
Though the 2020 Davos theme is climate emergency, featuring an appearance by teen activist Greta Thunberg, Trump has little belief in global warming. He’ll push his own agenda. He’ll “take on the perils of socialism”, top advisor Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Thursday.
“He’ll continue to talk about the stock market, getting Nato members to pay up to provide for the common security, and also talk about the global economy.”
Not so long ago, Trump might have been more nervous about leaving his fate in the hands of Republican lawmakers.
The upstart businessman shocked the Republican establishment when he sought the 2016 nomination.
Mitt Romney, the unsuccessful Republican nominee from 2012, dismissed the real estate tycoon and TV show performer as having “a character and temperament unfit for the leader of the free world.”
Another senator, Mark Kirk, branded candidate Trump a “malignant clown.”
What a difference three years in the White House makes. — AFP