US President Donald Trump is expected to arrive at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, approximately three hours later than expected, due to a 'minor electrical issue' with Air Force One. White House press pool suggests the backup AF1, carrying Trump and entourage, departed Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, at approximately 00:30 ET 05:30 GMT. Assuming a travel time of around eight hours, that would put Trump's arrival time in Zurich at ~08:30 ET 13:30 GMT, with the final leg to Davos via helicopter adding ~25 minutes to the total travel time.
- Trump was scheduled to deliver his special address to the forum at 08:30 ET 13:30 GMT. We can assume the address will be pushed back several hours. The delay is also likely to have knock on effects to the rest of Trump's schedule, including a meeting with foreign leaders at 09:45 ET 14:45 GMT and a reception with international business leaders in financial services, crypto, and consulting (Reuters) at 11:25 ET 16:25 GMT.
- It is unclear which leaders Trump will meet with. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish President Karol Nawrocki, and Argentine President Javier Milei are all in attendance. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will return to Davos this afternoon, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni may join, though neither is scheduled to speak.
- Notable absences include Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UK PM Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron (who departed yesterday).
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated he would attend if there were a security agreement to sign, which, along with Starmer/Macron absences, appears to rule out a Ukraine-focused meeting. Worth pointing out that this year's WEF had been informally billed as an ad hoc leaders summit on Ukraine. It is now damage limitation on Trump's bid to acquire Greenland.
- Trump's speech is expected to focus on his domestic 'affordability' agenda. He signed an Executive Order yesterday seeking to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes, one of several policies he has introduced in recent weeks on housing.