Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said an economic delegation he is leading to Davos isn’t there to ‘rub elbows’ and even denied the gathering President Trump was visiting was a ‘globalist’ hangout.
‘I don’t think it’s a hangout for globalists,’ Mnuchin said, pressed about the trip at a White House press briefing Thursday.
This year’s theme for the World Economic Forum is ‘Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.’
Questioned about the gathering’s reputation for joining billionaires and celebrities, Mnuchin said: ‘I can assure you that the members of his cabinet have no interest in going over there and rubbing elbows with anybody. This is about meeting business leaders. This is about meeting our counterparts,’ he said.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said an economic delegation he is leading to Davos isn’t there to ‘rub elbows’
‘This is about creating jobs, creating economic growth for the U.S.’ Mnuchin continued.
‘As you know there’s tremendous investment in the U.S., okay? There’s tremendous trade deals going on. I think we’ve been very clear and the president has delivered. Look where the stock market is again. The president is delivering for American workers.’
He added: ‘So this trip is all business. I can assure you it has nothing to do with anything other than that.’
The White House said Trump would discuss his ‘America First’ agenda at Davos.
Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, January 11, 2018
President Donald Trump is heading to Davos for the world’s most elite economic conference later this month
A Swiss national flag flies above a snow covered rooftop as the spire of St. Johann church, left, stands above buildings illuminated at dusk in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday, Jan. 13, 2017
The White House said the billionaire would attend the Swiss gathering that’s taking place days before his first State of the Union address in a Tuesday statement
The annual confab brings together leaders in global finance as well as celebrities like Angelina Jolie, a UN goodwill ambassador
The White House on Thursday released the long list of administration members who would be accompanying Mnuchin, a multimillionaire former Hollywood producer.
Other members of the delegation include Secretary of Stat Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta,Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao,and Energy Secretary Rick Perry are going.
Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner is going.
So is the new Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen,and trade representative Robert Lighthizer. From the White House, Thomas Bossert, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism is going. Mark Green, the USAID administrator is joining. Even the head of the FDA, Scott Gottlieb, will be there.
The forum’s board of directors includes Al Gore, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and the head of the International Montetery Fund, Christine Lagarde.
Among the attendees who are familiar with Trump Tower are Jack Ma, Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group, and former secretary of state Henry Kissinger.
Former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon blasted the confab in a 2014 speech, where he said ‘working men and women in the world [are] just tired of being dictated to by what we call the party of Davos.’