On Thursday, the White House canceled its delegation’s planned trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
She cited the partial government shutdown, which ended its 27th day Thursday, as the reason for the cancellation. The move also follows President Donald Trump’s refusal to provide House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a military aircraft for a trip to NATO headquarters in Brussels and Afghanistan, where she was to meet U.S. troops.
“Out of consideration for the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay and to ensure his team can assist as needed, President Trump has canceled his Delegation’s trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,” Sanders said in a statement.
Last week, Trump canceled his own visit to the forum in Davos due to what he said was “the Democrats intransigence on Border Security.” The White House then said only a small delegation would be going to the annual gathering of world leaders and financial titans.
“Because of the Democrats intransigence on Border Security and the great importance of Safety for our Nation, I am respectfully canceling my very important trip to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum,” Trump tweeted earlier this month. “My warmest regards and apologies to the @WEF!”
The team was to be led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell, The Hill reports.
After Trump nixed Pelosi’s trip, he came under even greater pressure to cancel his administration’s visit to Davos. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff questioned Thursday why the Speaker’s trip was canceled, while a group of administration officials had still been scheduled to visit Davos next week.
“The President’s concern about [a trip] into a war zone apparently doesn’t apply to a delegation from the administration going to Davos the following week. Because we got confirmation that is still planned,” he said.
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