The World Economic Forum (WEF) has once again invited US President Donald Trump to its annual meeting in Davos in January. “All heads of state of the G20 countries already have the invitation on their desk,” said Alois Zwinggi, President and Managing Director of the Forum, in an interview with the daily Südostschweiz published on Saturday, according to the Keystone-SDA news agency as reported by SWI swissinfo.ch.

An invitation is not a confirmation. The available sources do not indicate whether Donald Trump will make the trip. Sending the invitation is standard WEF practice towards G20 leaders; it does not mean they will attend.

Davos 2027: dates and list of participants

The next annual meeting will take place from 18 to 22 January 2027 in Davos. According to Alois Zwinggi, the WEF will keep the list of participants confidential until 10 January, unless a government expressly requests otherwise. In other words, a delegation may announce its attendance itself earlier, but the Forum will not release an official list before that date.

For the organisation, this rule has a simple consequence: until early January, speculation about whether a given head of state will attend will remain conjecture, unless a government lifts the confidentiality itself.

A presence that dominated the last edition

Donald Trump’s participation dominated the previous edition of the Davos forum, swissinfo.ch recalls. If the US president were to return, the situation would probably be similar, as would the criticism his visit drew, the outlet believes. The sources give no details on the nature of this criticism or on any organisational measures such a visit would entail for Switzerland as host country.

The WEF claims the role of a neutral platform

Asked about this choice, Alois Zwinggi defended the Forum’s line. The WEF sees itself as a neutral platform that brings to the stage voices “from a broad spectrum”. Dialogue, he added, is better than no dialogue at all. “This means we must be prepared to engage even with people or topics that make us uncomfortable,” the head of the WEF said.

This position sheds light on the reasoning behind the invitation: for the Forum, inviting all G20 leaders is part of its purpose as a meeting place, regardless of the controversies a particular guest may provoke.

Key takeaways

At this stage, only one fact is established: the invitation has been sent, as it has to all G20 heads of state, according to the president of the World Economic Forum. Donald Trump’s participation is not confirmed, and the official list of participants will only be published from 10 January, unless a government requests otherwise. The original Südostschweiz interview is not linked in the sources consulted; the Keystone-SDA dispatch was translated from German by swissinfo.ch.

Sources