WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will host more than two dozen of the world’s most powerful technology and business leaders at the White House on Sept 4, marking the first event in the newly renovated Rose Garden.
According to a White House official, confirmed attendees include Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.
The gathering underscores Trump’s complex but shifting relationship with Silicon Valley. Once marked by public clashes over content moderation and antitrust scrutiny, the sector has recalibrated since Trump’s 2024 election victory, aligning more closely with the Republican administration’s priorities.
Executives have warmed to Trump’s White House in recent months, particularly around policies to roll back diversity and equity initiatives while seeking influence over the administration’s stance on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said:
“The president looks forward to welcoming top business, political and tech leaders for this dinner and the many dinners to come on the new, beautiful Rose Garden patio.”
The Rose Garden renovation, completed in August, replaced the iconic lawn with a stone patio and umbrella-covered tables modeled after Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The dinner will follow a White House AI event hosted by First Lady Melania Trump earlier in the day.
Other confirmed executives on the guest list include:
- Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
- Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle
- David Limp, CEO of Blue Origin
- Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology
- Greg Brockman, President of OpenAI
- Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
- Vivek Ranadive, owner of the Sacramento Kings
- Shyam Sankar, CTO of Palantir
- Alexandr Wang, Chief AI Officer at Meta
Notably absent from the invitation list is Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief who previously served as a Trump adviser before a public split earlier this year.
Source: Reuters
