President Donald Trump could still make the trip late in the week if the shutdown ends in time, two senior administration officials said Sunday. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Shutdown throws Trump’s Davos trip into doubt A long list of Trump administration officials could be forced to skip their trip to the World Economic Forum as the shutdown drags on.

President Donald Trump may not get to Davos after all.

The Senate’s failure to reach a deal to reopen the federal government Sunday night threw Trump’s planned trip to the annual Swiss Alps schmooze-fest into question.


Trump could still make the trip late in the week if the shutdown ends in time, two senior administration officials said Sunday. Trump is slated to speak toward the end of the summit, which begins Tuesday and runs through Friday.

But plans for the entire Trump delegation are in flux. The Senate has another vote scheduled for Monday at noon to reopen the government but passage is not assured.

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was scheduled to fly out to Davos on Monday to lead a large administration delegation to the World Economic Forum annual meeting ahead of Trump’s arrival. But those plans were also being reconsidered late Sunday as the shutdown dragged toward its third day. Should the impasse last deep into the week, the entire trip could get canceled.

“It would not look very good to have a bunch of senior people in Switzerland if the government is still shut down,” a senior administration official said.

In addition to Trump, the large Davos delegation was set to include chief of staff John Kelly, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and other senior staff as well as several other cabinet secretaries and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney over the weekend said the White House was taking the Davos decision on a “day-to-day” basis. White House spokespeople did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the Davos trip on Sunday night.

Trump’s decision to go the well-heeled gathering – known for hosting world leaders, billionaire bankers and A-list celebrities – came as something of a surprise for a man who used his presidential campaign to rail against Wall Street elites.

Mnuchin last week defended the decision. “I don’t think it’s a hangout for globalists,” he told reporters of the Davos gathering. “I think the idea is that the economic team will go over and talk about the America First economic strategy.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last week said Trump “welcomes opportunities to advance his America First agenda with world leaders."

Trump’s planned appearance has created both anticipation and anxiety in European capitals as leaders wonder whether Trump will offer remarks in keeping with this year’s theme, “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World,” or rail against lax immigration rules and free-trade deals.

The planned trip comes ahead of Trump’s State of the Union address on Jan. 30, and as the White House considers pulling out of the North American Free Trade Agreement and take potentially aggressive trade action against China and other countries.

Davos this year will host a long roster of global leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, Indian Prime Mister Narendra Modi, Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and many others.

Now the question is whether members of Congress will move quickly enough to let Trump join them.