Biden skipped January January International Conference in Davos | Stories by Joe Biden

Biden will instead send US officials to meetings at the Swiss ski resort, sources said.

President Joe Biden is preparing to skip the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which took place in January, a summit of world leaders who have previously decided not to attend.

Instead Biden will send officials to the Swiss ski resort, according to two people who are familiar with the matter. In previous years when the president of the United States did not attend, the delegates were accompanied by officials from economics and trade.

Speakers at the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Biden’s idea to skip the meetings is a signal of the departure of former President Donald Trump. Trump has twice been in office, in 2018 and 2020, breaking a long-running US presidential list. He plans to leave in 2019 but has suspended the trip due to a brief closure of the US government.

Barack Obama, George W. Bush and George HW Bush never participated in their tenure. Bill Clinton once went as president, in 2000, to mark the 30th anniversary of the convention, though it has been a frequent one since he stepped down.

The event is set to take place on January 17-21 and is aimed at “addressing the economic, environmental, political and cultural crisis that is exacerbating the epidemic,” the organizers said. The Davos summit took place almost earlier this year.