Some titans of industry will huddle together in a private meeting at the nation's capitol Thursday to hear former President Donald Trump speak — but some big names aren't planning to attend.
The Business Roundtable will house “roughly” 100 of the over 200 chief executive members of the forum during its quarterly meeting in Washington D.C. on Thursday, according to CNBC who spoke to a representative.
The outlet sought to reach the more than 200 companies whose chief executives are not the Roundtable's roster to inquire about whether they plan to attend Thursday’s meeting.
CNBC counted 17 confirmations of company CEOs expected to attend, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and the CEO of Edison International, Pedro Pizarro.
Interest in being present for Trump 's return to Washington suggests a vigor in the business sector about Trump's prospects come Nov. 5.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) believes there is a good chance the executives are priming for a Republican victory.
“I think [CEOs] see what everybody else sees, that he’s going to win,” McCarthy said during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
President Joe Biden is sitting out the roundtable as he will be attending the G7 summit in Italy. Jeff Zients, Biden's chief of staff and former chairman and chief executive of the education and healthcare consulting company Advisory Board, plans to speak in his absence.
Thirteen told the outlet that their CEOs are sitting out of speeches from both Trump and Zients.
Those who will reportedly skip out by choice or scheduling conflicts include: Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Steelcase CEO Sara Armbruster, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods, Delta CEO Ed Bastian, Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick and the company’s executive chairman James Gorman, and Lynn Good, the CEO of Duke Energy.
The meeting will take place weeks after the 45th president and presumptive Republican nominee was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleged they had an affair, to manipulate the results of the 2016 election.
Trump has vowed to appeal after he is sentenced on July 11.
