Trump aims to promote US at economic summit
PRESIDENT Donald Trump sought to sell the United States to the global business community, telling an economic conference in the Swiss Alps that America’s economic turnaround has been “nothing short of spectacular”.
Mr Trump addressed the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, hours before his impeachment trial was to reconvene in the US Senate in Washington.
Mr Trump reminded the audience that when he spoke here two years ago: “I told you that we had launched the great American comeback. Today I’m proud to declare the United States is in the midst of an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen before.”
Speculation had mounted that Mr Trump would cancel the trip due to the Senate trial, but aides said he remains focused on producing results for the American people.
Climate issues were to be a main theme at the forum and Act On Climate was written in the snow at the landing zone where Mr Trump’s helicopter set down in Davos.
Mr Trump, however, said he was attending the forum to encourage businesses to invest in the US.
“America is thriving. America is flourishing and, yes, America is winning again like never before,” Mr Trump said before talking about a newly signed trade deal with China and a pending trade agreement with Mexico and Canada.
The President also spoke of record low unemployment, stock market gains and millions removed from unemployment.
Mr Trump planned to meet with world leaders and business executives after the speech.
Swooping in for his second appearance at the conference, Mr Trump was set to depart today, jetting back to Washington, which is consumed by the impeachment trial.
The Democratic-controlled House impeached the Republican President last month for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after it was revealed that he had pressed Ukraine’s president to announce investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat and a Trump political rival.
Mr Trump withheld foreign aid that Congress had approved for the Eastern European nation and dangled the prospect of an Oval Office meeting as leverage.
Mr Trump denies any wrongdoing and argues that Democrats want to remove him from office because they know they cannot deny him re-election in November.
Mr Trump would be forced to leave office if convicted, but the Republican-controlled Senate is expected to acquit him.
Mr Trump said he would attend the two-day Davos forum despite the awkward timing because he wants to encourage businesses to come back to the US.
“Our country is the hottest country anywhere in the world,” he said at the White House last week. “There’s nothing even close. I’ll be meeting the biggest business leaders in the world, getting them to come here.”
The White House has not named any of the business leaders Mr Trump is set to meet with.
But he was scheduled to hold talks yesterday and today with the leaders of Iraq, Pakistan, Switzerland and Iraq’s self-governing Kurdish region, as well as the forum’s founder, the White House said.
Mr Trump will also meet the new European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. That meeting could be significant, given Mr Trump’s many disagreements with Europe over tax and trade policy, like a new digital levy by the French that will force American tech giants such as Amazon and Google to pay up.
Mr Trump has smarted over the French tax, and his administration has announced plans to impose retaliatory tariffs of up to 100% on French imports.
France has threatened to fight back – but after speaking to Mr Trump on Monday, French president Emmanuel Macron tweeted that they had a “great discussion” about the digital tax and “will work together on a good agreement to avoid tariff escalation”.