Relations between Trump, global elites seem to thaw at Davos
DAVOS, Switzerland — Snow was piled high outside, but inside the Davos summit, relations between President Donald Trump and the assembled global elites seemed to thaw.
Before Trump’s debut appearance at the World Economic Forum, critics speculated that the president would function as a protectionist bull in the free-tradeloving china shop. After all, this was a former reality television star who rode a wave of nationalist angst to the White House, blew up international trade deals and inflamed allies with his coarse rhetoric.
That uncertainty was clear as Trump arrived at the modern conference center Thursday for his twoday stay in the Swiss Alps. A hush fell on the crowd of people snapping photos and then someone asked the president how he would be treated.
“You tell me,” Trump shot back. Overall, not that bad. While there were scattered protests, some critiques and many panel discussions with Trump-wary titles — “Democracy in a Post-Truth Era” and “The Global Impact of America First” — the president’s visit also brought him praise from allies, a reception in his honor and a fawning dinner with European business executives.
“I think I have 15 new friends,” Trump enthused about his business dinner.
Before Trump’s centerpiece speech on Friday, attendees crowded around an international buffet in an open hall, dining on curry and empanadas, before filing into the brightly lit hall.
“Now is the perfect time to bring your business, your jobs and your investments to the United States,” the cheerleading president told the crowd, which seemed to regard him with a skeptical eye.
Applause was light, but the reception was generally polite.
Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab did draw some hisses in his introduction of the president when he said Trump’s presidency could be subject to “misconceptions and biased interpretations.”
And Trump himself got a mixed reaction during a brief question-and-answer session. When Schwab threatened to ask a personal question, Trump drew laughs by quipping: “I didn’t know about that.”
He also got a laugh about how he’s always been the recipient of good press coverage — but that quickly turned into boos when he made a crack about the “fake” media.
Showing up for the last two days of the summit, Trump flew over spectacular mountain scenery before landing in Davos via helicopter. Aides held Trump’s arms as he walked across the snowy landing zone to his waiting car — a wintry metaphor, perhaps, for entering the conference with caution.
Taking time for some diplomacy, Trump exuded affection in a Thursday meeting with close ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and earlier played nice with British Prime Minister Theresa May, batting away the idea of a strained relationship. On Friday, he worked to mend relations with a key African leader following his use of a vulgar term when referring to African nations. Rwandan President Paul Kagame said they had “good discussions” on economic and trade issues.
Trump emanated confidence as he strode from room to room in the conference center, flanked by aides. “Today has been a very exciting day,” he declared to questions about how it was going.
After a reception in his honor, Trump used his dinner with business leaders to boast about the booming U.S. economy, showcasing his recent tax overhaul and deregulation efforts before soliciting comments from the group.
Many executives praised Trump’s administration and promised to do more.
Still, Trump did take a few hits. Denmark’s finance minister, Kristian Jensen, tweeted that Trump’s address was “rather ordinary” and added that the crowd “didn’t need a sales speech” about the United States.
George Soros, the billionaire liberal philanthropist, predicted that Trump would be a “temporary phenomenon” and lose in the 2020 election if he got that far.
Of course, not that long ago in Davos, everyone predicted Trump would never win in the first place.
WASHINGTON — Delivering a big defeat to Boeing, a U.S. trade panel ruled Friday that the U.S. aircraft giant was not harmed by competition from Canada’s Bombardier.
The 4-0 decision by the independent International Trade Commission effectively blocks the Trump administration from slapping 292 percent tariffs on Bombardier. The Commerce Department ruled last year that the Canadian firm had unfairly received government subsidies and sold its C series planes at artificially low prices in the United States. The trade panel disagreed. The case threatened to raise tensions between Washington and U.S. allies Canada and Britain, which has a Bombardier plant in Northern Ireland.
Bombardier immediately praised the ruling as a “victory for innovation, competition, and the rule of law.”
Boeing said it was “disappointed” and vowed to continue to document the damage from “illegal subsidies and dumped pricing.”
Boeing had charged that Bombardier sold Delta Air Lines 75 CS100 aircraft for less than it cost to build them. But Delta said Boeing didn’t even make the medium-size jets it needed. On Friday, Delta said it was “pleased by the ITC’s ruling rejecting Boeing’s anticompetitive attempt to deny U.S. airlines and the U.S. traveling public access to the state-of-the-art 110seat CS100 aircraft.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly clashed with Canada over trade, including Canadian softwood lumber imports.
Last October, Bombardier sold a majority stake in the C Series program to Europe’s Airbus for no cost. The C Series headquarters was slated to stay in the Montreal area but a second assembly line for the 100- to 150-seat plane is scheduled to be set up at Airbus’ plant in Mobile, Ala.