Top Line
Former President Donald Trump is continuing his bold outreach to the business community in his campaign for a second term, pledging to cut income taxes and roll back business regulations at the annual conference of the powerful lobbying group the Business Roundtable, according to multiple reports.
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and Apple CEO Tim Cook speak to reporters during a tour of Apple’s headquarters. [+] Flextronics computer manufacturing plant where Apple’s Mac Pro is assembled in Austin, Texas, on November 20, 2019. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Bloomberg reports that Trump told the roughly 80 CEOs in attendance, including Apple’s Tim Cook, JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser and Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, that he would cut the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 20%.
Xerox CEO Steven Bandrowszak, Gap Inc. President Richard Dickson and Truist CEO Bill Rogers were also seen leaving the meeting, according to Reuters.
Trump also pushed a proposal to eliminate taxes on tip income, announcing his plan over the weekend in Nevada, a battleground state won narrowly by President Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump promised that one of his top priorities would be to “unlock American energy,” his economic adviser Stephen Moore told Reuters, while Bloomberg reported that Trump lamented the energy permitting process, addressing a key concern of Republican lawmakers who have complained that it is too slow under the Biden administration’s environmental regulations.
CNBC reported that Trump had criticized Biden’s mental state, saying his opponent was “not in top form,” and noted that conservative commentator Larry Kudlow, who served as an economic adviser during Trump’s time in the White House, had interviewed Trump at the meeting.
The meeting comes as Trump has reportedly made a series of bold appeals to the business community to drum up donors, including meeting with oil executives at Mar-a-Lago in April, where he promised to roll back Biden’s environmental regulations and urged them to donate $1 billion to support his campaign.
tangent
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients spoke on Biden’s behalf as President Biden is currently in Italy for the G7 summit.
Main Background
Wall Street executives and business leaders have warmed increasingly to Trump since he won the nomination in March after endorsing many of his rivals in the primaries. Dimon, who has criticized Trump in the past, said in January that Trump is “right in some ways” on some issues, such as immigration and NATO, which Trump has openly criticized and suggested the organization should not defend member states that don’t meet their spending targets. Billionaire Blackstone CEO and co-founder Steve Schwarzman sat out the primaries in search of a “new generation of leaders,” but said last month he plans to donate to Trump, and Pershing Square Capital Management’s Bill Ackman is also widely expected to support Trump after donating to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley during the primaries. Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, who supported Haley in the primary, also recently praised Trump and suggested he may donate to her campaign after she chooses her running mate.Trump’s attendance at Thursday’s meeting comes after the group and many of its members, including Dimon and Moynihan, publicly criticized Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Amazing facts
Cook, who has raised funds for both Republicans and Democrats, developed some unlikely ties to Silicon Valley during Trump’s first term, despite the valley’s notoriously liberal leanings: He served on Trump’s business advisory council during his time in office and even made an appearance in the Biden White House.
References
President Trump to meet with powerful business lobby group that includes billionaire members (Forbes)
Billionaire Bill Ackman reportedly leans to Trump, but Musk denies role in Trump’s cabinet (Forbes)
Billionaire Ken Griffin has praised Trump despite endorsing his rival in the primary, but won’t endorse him until he picks his running mate (Forbes)
