Trump cancels Davos trip over US-Mexico border wall row

US President Donald Trump addresses the press in the White House briefing room on January 3, 2019 in Washington, DC. (AFP)

• Trump blamed opposition Democrats’ “intransigence” over his demand for $5.7 billion to extend a border wall with Mexico
• As a side-effect of the row, swaths of the US government are temporarily closed, leaving more than 800,000 employees without pay

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled his upcoming trip to the annual international conference at Davos, blaming the ongoing row in Washington over building wall on the border with Mexico.
“I am respectfully canceling my very important trip to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum,” he said in a tweet.
Trump blamed opposition Democrats’ “intransigence” over his demand for $5.7 billion to extend a border wall with Mexico. As a side-effect of the row, swaths of the US government are temporarily closed, leaving more than 800,000 employees without pay.
Trump had been due to make a brief appearance at the annual Davos get-together, which runs between January 21-25.