The World Economic Forum’s president says U.S. President Donald Trump will take part virtually in the annual meeting in Davos just days after his inauguration.

In a notable divergence from tradition, several billionaire business leaders, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, have opted to attend Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C., on January 20 instead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Several thousand soldiers have been deployed in the Swiss ski resort of Davos a week before the start of the meeting of the World Economic Forum that brings world leaders, business execs and campaigners to the Alpine nation each year.

According to Swiss broadcaster SRF, Brende said that delegations from more than 130 countries, including over 60 heads of state and government, as well as more than 1,600 business representatives, are expected at the event.

Donald Trump is to address the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos via video link on Thursday next week, three days after his inauguration as US president, the conference organizers said on Tuesday.

Donald Trump will speak remotely at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, just days after his inauguration as US President. The 47th president will address the gathering of world leaders and decision-makers on Thursday,