Trump touts ‘successful’ trip after returning from Davos

President Trump is back stateside after traveling to the Swiss resort town of Davos for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting this week.

The president landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday night after a nine-hour flight from Zurich, capping off a trip that lasted roughly two days.

During his short time in Davos, Trump sought to pitch his “America First” message to the annual gathering of global elites often derided by the president and his allies.

{mosads}

“As president of the United States, I will always put America first, just like the leaders of other countries should put their country first also,” Trump told a crowd on the last day of the forum.

“But America first does not mean America alone. When the United States grows, so does the world,” he added.

In his speech, Trump declared the U.S. “open for business,” and reassured those in attendance that he was committed to upholding free trade principles.

“But it needs to be fair and it needs to be reciprocal,” Trump said.

Trump tweeted while heading back to Washington on Friday that his speech was “well received.” He later dubbed his trip a success while speaking to reporters at the White House.

Heading back from a very exciting two days in Davos, Switzerland. Speech on America’s economic revival was well received. Many of the people I met will be investing in the U.S.A.! #MAGA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2018

Pres Trump returns to the WH this evening. Stops to tell reporters “Davos was really great. Our country’s doing great. A lot of money is coming into our country. We have many, many people from Davos bringing their money over here. I think it was a very successful trip.” pic.twitter.com/XodnbS9v9H

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 26, 2018

The trip to Davos was an unusual one for Trump, who campaigned on a populist message opposed to the kind of globalism associated with the annual conference.

Trump was only the second U.S. president to attend the conference, following former President Clinton. Other administrations have sent representatives to the forum.