Trump’s message: ‘Peace and prosperity’
President threatens Palestinians, reassures Britain, draws crowds
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump barreled into a global summit in the Swiss Alps on Thursday, threatening to stop U.S. aid to the Palestinians and dismissing as a “false rumor” the idea that there are tensions in the U.S. relationship with Britain.
Trump’s debut appearance at the glitzy World Economic Forum was hotly anticipated, with longtime attendees of the free-trade-focused event wondering how the “America First” president would fit in. Crowds clustered around Trump as he entered the modern conference hall, the president telling passersby that he was bringing a message of “peace and prosperity.”
Trump framed his visit as a sign of positive things happening for the U.S. economy.
“When I decided to come to Davos, I didn’t think in terms of elitist or globalist, I thought in terms of lots of people that want to invest lots of money and they’re all coming back to the United States,” the president told CNBC.
His meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally, was their first since the president announced earlier this month that he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. embassy there. The declaration delighted Netanyahu and outraged Palestinians, who declared a new U.S.-led peace push dead and refused to meet with Vice President Mike Pence during his recent visit to the Mideast.
Trump took that as an affront. “They disrespected us a week ago by not allowing our great vice president to see them and we give them hundred of millions of dollars in aid and support,” Trump said. “That money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace.”
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said all assistance to the Palestinians is at risk if the Palestinians don’t come to the negotiating table.
Trump met separately with British Prime Minister Theresa May, batting away the idea that their relationship is strained after he canceled a recent visit to London and May criticized him for retweeting a U.K. farright group’s anti-Muslim videos. Trump declared it a “really great relationship.” May described it as a “really special relationship.”
Trump is the first sitting president to attend Davos since Bill Clinton in 2000. The protectionist-leaning president’s last-minute decision to attend the annual gathering for political and business elites was unexpected. Trump has criticized global pacts, withdrawing from the TransPacific Partnership on trade, demanding changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement and announcing his intent to exit the Paris climate accord.
But he drew enthusiastic praise for his tax-cut law at a dinner that he hosted Thursday for more than a dozen business executives from Nokia, Adidas, SAP and other companies, with the business leaders praising his tax plan and pledging to invest more in the United States before their tucked into their beef tenderloin. Trump called the assembled executives, all male, “some of the greatest business leaders in the world,” before asking them to go around the table and talk about how their businesses are doing in the U.S.