President Donald Trump plans to bring an enormous group of administration officials with him to the Davos World Economic Summit in January.
The president told the Wall Street Journal that he wants to be a “cheerleader” for the American economic success story in the first year of his administration.
“The cutting of regulation and all of the many things that we’ve done, including being a cheerleader for the country — and perhaps that’s part of the reason I’m going to Davos also — but being a cheerleader for the country,” Trump said.
The group will include President Donald Trump and his chief of staff John Kelly, as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner, his senior economic adviser Gary Cohn and his national security advisor H.R. McMaster.
Over a dozen administration officials will attend the summit with Trump including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
Trump will be the first American president to attend the Davos World Economic Forum since former President Bill Clinton. Former presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush declined to go to the forum as well as former president Barack Obama.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin denied that the summit in Switzerland was a “hangout for globalists” and said that the Trump administration wanted to promote their economic message.
“I think the idea is the economic team is going to go over and talk about the America First economic strategy,” Mnuchin said. “We’re thrilled that the President is coming. And I think what we know is that the economy that’s good for the U.S. is good for the rest of the world.”
Mnuchin said that Trump would talk about “reciprocal, free, and fair trade” at the summit.
“The President will talk a lot about his economic program and the impact on the global economy,” he said.