US President Donald Trump will host more than two dozen technology and business leaders on Thursday for a dinner in the newly renovated White House Rose Garden, according to a White House official.
The official said the guests include:
- Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg;
- Apple CEO Tim Cook;
- Microsoft founder Bill Gates; and
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The gathering highlights Trump’s complicated but evolving relationship with Silicon Valley and the broader tech industry.
Once a source of frequent clashes over issues such as content moderation and antitrust scrutiny, the tech sector has recalibrated since Trump’s 2024 election victory.
Executives have sought closer ties with the Republican administration, aligning corporate policies with the White House's push to roll back diversity and equity initiatives while courting Trump's favour on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
“The president looks forward to welcoming top business, political and tech leaders for the dinner and the many dinners to come on the new beautiful Rose Garden patio,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle.
The Hill news outlet first reported the event.
Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief who served as a Trump adviser before a public split earlier this year, was not on the invite list, the official confirmed.
On Thursday Musk posted on his social media platform X that he “was invited, but unfortunately could not attend. A representative of mine will be there”.
The Rose Garden renovation, completed in August, replaced the iconic grass lawn with a stone patio and umbrella-covered tables modelled after Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The gathering there is set to take place after CEOs and tech leaders attend a White House event on AI hosted by first lady Melania Trump.
The White House official said other executives on the guest list include:
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai;
- Oracle CEO Safra Catz;
- Blue Origin CEO David Limp;
- Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra;
- OpenAI president Greg Brockman;
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella;
- Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive;
- Palantir chief technology officer Shyam Sankar;
- Meta's chief AI officer Alexandr Wang; and
- AMD CEO Lisa Su.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.