Trump will limit international travel following Davos flight delay
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump, 79, will significantly scale back his international travel schedule to focus on domestic events and his health, White House officials told reporters this week following a troubled presidential flight into Switzerland.
This comes after an Air Force One malfunction curtailed his sleep as he jetted into Davos.
The decision was relayed to reporters aboard the aircraft heading to Zurich on Wednesday, and news of it came after an electrical issue on board forced the plane to circle back to Washington, DC.
Air Force One issue prompts schedule shift
The flight ran into trouble last Tuesday night just after the presidential plane took off from Joint Base Andrews near Washington.
The president swapped planes back in the capital and continued his journey, heavily delayed, to Switzerland.
His second departure, just after midnight, is thought to have added a further three hours to his journey.
Trump emerged from the second plane in Zurich on Wednesday morning looking frazzled, before slowly descending the stairs.
Despite the setback, the president still made it in time to address world leaders in Davos, though his voice sounded hoarse and he appeared to have bags under his eyes.
Annual Meeting on January 21, 2026, in Davos, Switzerland (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump plans to skip international trips
Alayna Treene from CNN shared that her colleague Kaitlan Collins, who Trump often singles out, said his Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, passed along a message: The president plans to skip international trips for now and focus on visiting cities across the US as the midterms approach.
Wiles told reporters that Trump’s new schedule kicks off in Iowa on Tuesday. He’s set to give a speech there about the economy.
After that, he’ll visit a different city every week, according to Bloomberg.
Administration aides described the shift as part of a push to address voter concerns on key domestic topics such as the economy and affordability, which they say have become central issues heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump’s decision to cut back on international travel fits right in with his push to spend more time in the US.
Last week, he showed up in Michigan, walked through Ford’s River Rouge complex, and spoke at the Detroit Economic Club. The visit grabbed headlines, not just for the speech, but because of a run-in with a protester.
Things got heated fast; Trump seemed to flip off someone who called him a 'pe*****le protector' while he was at the plant.
A video shows Trump pointing at the protester, saying “f*** you,” and flashing the middle finger as he walked off.
