Trump to skip Davos if government remains closed

by Jordan Fabian - 01/10/19 9:52 AM ET

President Trump on Thursday said he will skip the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month if the partial government shutdown continues.

Trump told reporters at the White House that the trip is “still on” for now, but he “won’t go” if the government hasn’t been reopened by Jan. 21, when he is set to depart.

{mosads}Aides have been discussing scrapping the Davos trip, wary of the optics of the president hobnobbing with billionaires and celebrities at the annual conference and concerned about executing a foreign trip with staff limited in size by the shutdown.

Trump last year became the first president since Bill Clinton to travel to the gathering in the Swiss Alps.

The president spoke as he prepared to travel to the Texas border town of McAllen as he continues to press his demand for $5.7 billion for a border wall in order to reopen the government.

Talks with Democrats collapsed Thursday in acrimonious fashion, when Trump stormed out of the room, leaving no end in sight to the 20-day shutdown.

Tags Appropriations Bill Clinton Border Budget Donald Trump Shutdown