— Donald Trump will be joined by more than 60 heads of state and government, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Argentinian President Javier Milei, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, China's Vice Premier He Lifeng, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa. Trump is leading the largest US delegation ever to Davos, comprising five cabinet secretaries and other senior officials. Top tech leaders such as Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Google's AI chief Demis Hassabis will be at the event.
— Trump is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyiv's G7 allies — including leaders from Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Canada and the European Commission president — on the sidelines of the main event to seek US backing for security guarantees for Ukraine after a possible peace agreement with Russia, the Financial Times reported.
— The strong US presence would be complemented by the first-ever "USA House" — a venue housed in a small church on the town's main Promenade street, where US officials will host events and network with investors.
— This year's meeting would be the first without WEF founder Klaus Schwab at the helm. The German-born economist resigned in April 2025, amid allegations that he and his wife used WEF funds for personal use. An independent inquiry, however, found no criminal misconduct, only minor irregularities. Schwab has been succeeded by interim co-chairs Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, and Andre Hoffmann, vice chair of Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche Holdings.
— Trump is scheduled to speak at Davos on January 21. Newsom is scheduled to speak on January 22. The governor's office said he plans to challenge CEOs and institutions that it says have been complicit in Trump's efforts to erode democracy. He also plans to make the case for "democratic capitalism" as opposed to "crony capitalism."
— Half of those surveyed anticipate a turbulent or stormy world over the next two years, up 14 percentage points from last year. A further 40% expect the two-year outlook to be unsettled at the very least, while 9% expect stability and 1% predict calm. When it comes to the outlook for the next 10 years, 57% expect a turbulent or stormy world, 32% expect things to be unsettled, 10% predict stability and 1% anticipate calm.
— Trump sidelined Machado after the US kidnapped Maduro, saying she didn't "have the support within or the respect within the country" to be in charge. On Thursday, the White House said Trump has not changed his opinion on Machado.