Trump is going to the World Economic Forum in Davos — here’s who isn’t
Aerial view of the town ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF), also known as the Davos Summit, held in Davos, Switzerland, on January 14, 2024.
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JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is among political leaders, celebrity CEOs and tech pioneers heading to Davos, Switzerland, for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
US President Donald Trump is also attending the forum in person for the first time since addressing the forum during his first term in 2020. His virtual address shook things up just days after he re-entered the White House last year. This time it will bring the “largest” US delegation ever, according to the WEF.
Davos organizers are keen to talk about the numbers they expect to attend – “close to 3,000 cross-sector leaders”, plus a “record” 400 political leaders, 850 senior corporate bosses and 100 tech pioneers. But a government at the center of a geopolitical firestorm won’t be there.
A WEF spokesman said on Monday that representatives of the Danish government were invited and decided not to attend due to the intensification of the dispute over Greenland. Their decisions underscore how tense the meeting will be, coming just days after Trump announced new tariffs on European countries that resist his attempt to annex the Arctic island. “Any decision regarding participation is a matter for the relevant government. We can confirm that the Danish government will not be represented in Davos this week,” a WEF spokesperson said in a statement. he said.
There are important names among those who did not go.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is unclear WEF participation listSo are the leaders of Brazil and India.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni are not on the WEF list, but both will reportedly attend.
major economic powers
At a press conference last week, WEF organizers highlighted that six of the G7 countries were expected to send representatives in a “historic” move, according to WEF president Børge Brende.
The only G7 leader to attend Davos in person in 2025 was then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
In addition to President Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are also expected to attend in person.
Borge Brende, president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, held a press conference to promote the WEF annual meeting to be held in Davos, Geneva, on January 14, 2025.
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Downing Street has not confirmed whether British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will attend – he did not attend last year – but he is reportedly expected to attend.
At an emergency press conference on Monday morning, Starmer addressed Trump’s announcement that he would increase tariffs targeting several European countries, including the UK, if Greenland is not sold to the US. But when asked by the BBC whether he would consider meeting Trump in person “this week”, Starmer did not answer the question directly.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will appear and be a guest on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” program on Wednesday.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s name is not on the WEF list, but she will likely remain in her country as she announced on Monday that early elections will be held on February 8.
‘There are more CEOs’
Davos operates from Monday evening to Friday morning. This year’s theme is “The spirit of dialogue” and its agenda focuses on five areas: geopolitical environment, artificial intelligence, climate and nature, new sources of economic growth and “people and preparedness”.
But the interest will be who will attend Davos, according to Eric Kutcher, a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and a “strategic partner” of the WEF. “It’s going to be about who’s there,” he said in a video released by the company. “It’s so much more than what you see in the issues,” Kutcher said.
Trump’s delegation will include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner. The president is scheduled to speak in Davos on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump is on the screen during his speech via video conference at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on January 23, 2025.
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WEF founder Klaus Schwab is one of the big names who will not be in Davos. After running the event for decades, Schwab resigned in April following an investigation into allegations of misconduct. He was later acquitted”material mistake“
Kutcher said BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Roche vice chairman Andre Hoffman were announced as interim co-chairs of the WEF in August, and the organization’s new staff “made a real push to reinject the WEF’s economic orientation, and in doing so brought on more CEOs.”
Besides Nvidia’s Huang, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis are on the WEF attendance list. OpenAI’s chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, is also set to attend, but the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, is not.
Key issues for markets include US moves to seize Greenland, political turmoil in Venezuela and Trump’s threat to use force against Iran. Investors will also watch for announcements from artificial intelligence companies, central bank updates and news about companies moving away from the US
Although some well-known politicians did not attend, some of the leaders who went, such as Argentina’s Javier Milei and Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, “are not small figures,” according to Jan Aart Scholte, professor of global transformations and governance challenges at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Argentinian President Javier Milei delivers a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos on January 17, 2024. (Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
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He added that governments still see Davos as a meeting place for business. “While large multinational corporations are generally less embraced and celebrated than they were 20-30 years ago, global capital remains a powerful force in world politics,” he said in an email to CNBC on Monday.
Who is not on the list
Although WEF says that nearly 65 heads of state and important names such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are expected to attend, other big names are not on the list.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are not scheduled to give addresses. However, Brende described the Indian delegation as “strong” and noted that heads of state of other Asian economies, including Indonesia and Pakistan, will also attend.
Although Chinese President Xi is not expected to attend, Brende said a “large” Chinese delegation will attend, including Vice Premier of commerce and finance He Lifeng, who will speak at the event on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of his country, is not on the WEF’s attendance list. However, CNBC is scheduled to interview many of the country’s ministers during the event, including Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that he would no longer participate after two high-speed trains collided in the south of the country on Sunday, killing 39 people.
A former Davos critic took to the stage
Nigel Farage, leader of right-wing Reform England, is expected to attend the event this year. Farage previously called Davos “elite” and said in a 2020 video that those who attended were “the people who decide our future in Swiss ski resorts.”
Scholte said Davos was seen by some as elitist and uncaring. “Nationalist-populist circles often see the WEF as a sign of the liberal globalist elite drawing their ire,” he told CNBC via email.
– CNBC’s Leonie Kidd contributed to this report.
