page_title: Ueli Maurer
section_title: Swiss Federal Council
hierarchical_section_title: Ueli Maurer / Political career / Swiss Federal Council
caption_attribution_description: President Donald J. Trump welcomes President Ueli Maurer of the Swiss Confederation Thursday, May 16, 2019, to the West Wing Lobby entrance of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
context_page_description: Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer is a Swiss politician who served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and 2019. A member of the Swiss People's Party, he has been a member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2009. Formerly head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports, Maurer has served as head of the Federal Department of Finance since 2016.
  An accountant by occupation, he chaired the Swiss People's Party from 1996 to 2008. He was elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly to succeed Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid in the 2008 election and took office on 1 January 2009. Maurer served as Vice-President of the Swiss Confederation in 2012 and 2018 and President of the Swiss Confederation for the years 2013 and 2019. He was reelected Federal Councillor in the 2015 election and the 2019 election.
context_section_description: On 27 November 2008, the party's parliamentary group unanimously nominated both Maurer and Blocher as candidates to succeed Schmid as Federal Councillor. With Blocher – who was ousted from the Council in 2007 – considered unelectable by all other parties, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and other Swiss media called Maurer the clear frontrunner for the Council seat even before his nomination. On 10 December 2008 Maurer was elected to the Federal Council in the third round of voting with 122 votes, a margin of a single vote.
  Maurer was elected Vice President of the Confederation for 2012, alongside President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf. On 5 December 2012 he was elected President of the Confederation for 2013.
  Maurer was reelected as Federal Councillor on 8 December 2015, and on 11 December 2015 he was selected to become head of the Federal Department of Finance, with newly elected Guy Parmelin, a fellow member of the SVP, replacing his position as head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports.
  As Finance Minister, Maurer attended the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit, becoming the first federal councillor to attend a G20 summit.
  Maurer became President of the Confederation for a second time for 2019.
  On 29 April 2019, during his visit in China, Maurer signed a Memorandum of Understanding under the Belt and Road Initiative.
  On 16 May 2019, Maurer met U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House, becoming the first Swiss president to meet a U.S. president in that location. The two discussed several issues, including Iran and a potential free trade agreement.
caption: Maurer meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House
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