Story highlights "It's a vindication tour," one person familiar with the President's thinking said

It's not yet clear what exactly Trump's time in the Swiss Alps will look like

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's announced trip to an annual gathering of the rich and powerful in Davos, Switzerland, seemed to some a strange match: the populist President meeting the internationalist elite.

But people involved in planning the trip say Trump is enthusiastic about taking his unapologetic brand of economic nationalism to the World Economic Forum, where his presidency has been mostly met with turned up noses. Instead of adjusting his message for the free trade-and-multinationalism-loving crowd, he'll reinforce the very views that some at Davos find worrying.

"It's a vindication tour," one person familiar with Trump's thinking said, describing the President as looking for a "victory lap" on the world stage after he and fellow Republicans successfully slashed the corporate tax rate. He's also likely to tout record-breaking markets and solid job growth as evidence his economic policies are working.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said it was Trump's decision to travel to Davos and that his message there would be the same one he's offered for the past year.

"This is very much an America First agenda," she said.

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