Trump declares Davos a rousing success

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Snow was piled high outside, but inside the Davos summit, relations between President Donald Trump and the assembled global elites seemed to thaw.

Before Trump's debut appearance at the World Economic Forum, critics speculated the president would function as a protectionist bull in the free-trade-loving china shop. After all, this was a former reality television star who rode a wave of nationalist angst to the White House, blew up international trade deals and inflamed allies with his coarse rhetoric.

The uncertainty was clear as Trump arrived at the modern conference center Thursday for his two-day stay in the Swiss Alps. A hush fell on the crowd of people snapping photos and then someone asked the president how he would be treated.

"You tell me," Trump shot back.

Overall, not bad.

While there were scattered protests, some critiques and many panel discussions with Trump-wary titles -- "Democracy in a Post-Truth Era" and "The Global Impact of America First" -- the president's visit also brought him praise from allies, a reception in his honor and a fawning dinner with European business executives.

Before Trump's centerpiece speech Friday, attendees crowded around an international buffet in an open hall, dining on curry and empanadas, before filing into the brightly lit hall.

"Now is the perfect time to bring your business, your jobs and your investments to the United States," the cheerleading president told the crowd, which seemed to regard him with a skeptical eye.

As he moved through the conference center, political and business elites in dark suits and snow boots angled to snap his photo. Trump stopped to chat with a delegate waving a copy of "God and Donald Trump" by Stephen E. Strang. The president also waved aloft a Swiss newspaper headline declaring, "Dear Mister President Welcome to Switzerland!"

Trump emanated confidence as he strode from room to room in the conference center, flanked by aides. "Today has been a very exciting day," he declared to questions about how it was going.

After a reception in his honor, Trump used his dinner with business leaders to boast about the booming U.S. economy, showcasing his recent tax overhaul and deregulation efforts before soliciting comments from the group.

As he has before, Trump went around the table of CEOs, bantering with the president of Volvo about Mack Trucks, noting to a Nestle executive he'd read candy was not their primary product and telling a Bayer executive he takes a daily aspirin.

"I should say, I only take Bayer," Trump said. "One aspirin a day. So far, it's been working. But it's a great company. So are you going to be investing in the U.S.?"

Werner Baumann responded: "Yes, we are."

Many executives praised Trump's administration and promised, like Bayer, to do more.

Still, Trump did take a few hits.

Denmark's finance minister, Kristian Jensen, tweeted Trump's address was "rather ordinary" and added the crowd "didn't need a sales speech" about the United States.

George Soros, the billionaire liberal philanthropist, predicted Trump would be a "temporary phenomenon" and lose in the 2020 election if he got to it.

Of course, not long ago in Davos, everyone predicted Trump would never win in the first place.

This week, to hear Trump tell it, not only did he come to Davos, but he also made Davos better.

Said Trump: "We have a tremendous crowd and a crowd like they've never had before."