Fox in the Globalist Henhouse? Davos Awaits Trump’s Arrival
“The opposite of love is irrelevance, and Trump gets that as much as everyone else attending.”
And while Mr. Trump may alienate much of the intellectual set, many of the chief executives in attendance have become huge beneficiaries
of the president’s tax overhaul, which has instantly created bigger profits, higher compensation and a soaring stock market.
His former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, acknowledged as much during the election when he said
that the American working class was “tired of being dictated to by what we call the party of Davos.” Mr. Dimon, a longtime Davos attendee, once described the event as a place “where billionaires tell millionaires what the middle class feels.”
The big question is, how will Mr. Trump’s “America First” campaign play here?
“Trump is as loathed by the elites of Western Europe as he is by the elites of Manhattan,” said Niall Ferguson, a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University
and a longtime Davos attendee, although he will not go this year.
The cast of multinational leaders this year ranges from chief executives like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase to philanthropists like Bill Gates
and policymakers like Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor.
“Trump’s attendance is exciting for attendees inasmuch as it shows them Davos is still the place to be,” said Ian Bremmer, president
and founder of Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy.
“This isn’t just personal: His policy positions on trade and immigration are blasphemy in Davos, as are his recent derogatory remarks about Africa.”
Indeed, Mr. Trump ran his populist campaign against the very plutocrats who populate this forum every year.
