The world's political and business elite headed Thursday into a compelling encounter with President Donald Trump as the US bids to carve out a competitive edge in trade, taxes and currency rates.Trump, who has made "America First" the touchstone of his year-old administration, touched down in the Swiss city of Zurich aboard Air Force One en route to the World Economic Forum in Davos Other government leaders and business tycoons in Davos are agog at the tempestuous course of US policy under Trump, who is due to close the forum on Friday with an eagerly awaited speech days after turmoil engulfed the dollar on currency markets.A day after appearing to cast aside decades of US support for a strong currency, Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said he was relaxed about the dollar's short-term value, doing little to help the reeling unit recover on foreign exchange markets."I thought my comment on the dollar was actually quite clear yesterday... we are not concerned with where the dollar is in the short term, it is a very liquid market and we believe in free currencies," Mnuchin told reporters in Davos.Having said on Wednesday "a weaker dollar is good for us," by promoting US exports, Mnuchin's comments were taken as reinforcing a broad offensive in trade as part of the "America First" platform.New tariffs imposed this week that have angered China and South Korea, and big cuts to the US corporate tax, are accentuating foreign concern that the US is abandoning its role as protector of the global trade order.Business leaders in Davos have this week given a broad welcome to Trump's controversial tax reforms, but European political leaders fear a "race to the bottom" as the US gains in appeal to foreign investors.International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde earlier Thursday urged Mnuchin to "clarify" his stance on the dollar, but the US administration is making it clearer that it means business with "America First."Aides say Trump will use his surprise maiden appearance in Davos to play salesman-in-chief, making the case for investment in a revitalized America.The president's security and logistical teams scrambled to prepare the trip at short notice, scouring the valleys around Davos for limited hotel space, battling snowstorms and finding themselves briefly hamstrung by a US government shutdown.