Tiffany Johnsons
on June 5, 2024
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Former President Donald Trump will attend a private meeting with one of Washington's most influential business lobbying groups in an attempt to build an alliance with major corporate leaders.
Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolton confirmed in an email to members on Wednesday that Trump will attend the group's plenary meeting in Washington on June 13. Although President Joe Biden was invited, he was unable to attend because he was out of the country for the G7 meeting. According to Bolton's email, the business group invited White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients to attend. Zients accepted the invitation last week and plans to address the group on June 13, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Bolton wrote in the letter that the meeting is secret and closed to the media. He also said that the Trump team had confirmed to the group that the former president would attend the meeting. A spokesman for the Trump campaign declined to comment. The Business Roundtable did not respond to a request for comment.
The invitation to members came nearly a week after Trump was found guilty in New York of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn actresses. Trump has consistently denied the allegations.
The meeting is likely to draw all members of the Business Roundtable, which is attended by more than 200 CEOs. It could be a critical moment for Trump, who has been trying to drum up support and donations from business leaders for his presidential campaign while touting the idea that he would cut taxes and impose sweeping tariffs if he defeats Biden in November.
The group’s members include Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman, who recently expressed his support for Trump after saying he wanted to support the former president’s replacement in 2022. Other members include JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Carlyle Group CEO Harvey Schwartz, AT&T CEO John Stankey and Chevron CEO Mike Wirth.
The Business Roundtable did not always support Trump’s policies during his presidency.
The group welcomed Trump’s tax cuts but questioned the then-president’s policies of imposing tariffs on Chinese products.
Several members of the council resigned from the White House Business Advisory Council after the 2017 white nationalist attack in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco and current chairman of the Business Roundtable, said at the time that it was “unbelievable that we’re having this conversation in 2017,” and that his company condemned “racism, discrimination, neo-Nazism and white supremacy.”
After the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, the Business Roundtable condemned the attack and called on Trump to “end the chaos and facilitate a peaceful transition of power.”
Trump has frequently tried to curry favor with some wealthy business leaders despite his apparent differences with them.
In January, Suzy Wells, a senior Trump campaign adviser, spoke to a group of Republican big donors in Florida about why she thought they should support Trump. The group is led by veteran investor Paul Singer.
Even after the conviction, Republican-leaning business leaders shrugged off Trump’s conviction and, in some cases, offered more support. Trump’s operation announced that it raised more than $50 million in the 24 hours following last week’s conviction.
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