President Donald Trump of the U.S.A. went to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland the other day. Few of the attendees at the world convention of capitalism cared. The reigning head of the most powerful nation on earth had nothing to contribute. He did not even ski.
It was the younger world leaders who captured attention. Emmanuel Macron of France had a message on how to live better with capitalism. Justin Trudeau of Canada advised the world to appreciate the strengths and contribution of women.
It was older leaders such as Narendra Modi of India and Donald Trump of the U.S.A. who pitched inward directed messages that tried to sell what their nations offered. Modi gave an impassioned albeit standard pitch to do more business with the Indian Sub-Continent.
And then there was Donald Trump, who consorted with the usual suspects, read a stilted speech from his teleprompter and contributed nothing but out-of-date platitudes and an uncaring view of the world.
And what more trouble could Trump cause by meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel? He has already caused more riots in the Middle East with his promise to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem.
Obviously, Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, needed friends in the cold altitude of Davos but Donald Trump did her no good. It is hard to find friends for either of them.
At least Trump brought his own clack of U.S. government employees to cheer his otherwise stony speech to the assembly. With Africans and attendees from other countries prepared to walk out in protest, Trump made sure that the bulk of his audience was American.
Not that his speech would have annoyed anyone. Nobody was particularly interested in the “America First” theme but he made it in such an out-of-date and hackneyed way that it was nothing new.
The consensus when he left was that most were pleased that he was gone.
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Copyright 2018 © Peter Lowry
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