Corporate A-listers descend on Riyadh for Trump’s CEO summit

Defence contractors were the big winners, but President Donald Trump’s first day in Saudi Arabia yielded a slew of high-profile investment deals that showcased the administration’s ability to draw support from major corporations.

Top executives who descended on Riyadh for a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) summit timed to coincide with Trump’s visit included JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon, Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman, and Marillyn Hewson, the CEO of Lockheed Martin.

Saturday’s meeting, the “Saudi-US CEO Forum,” drew the kind of corporate firepower Trump suggested he could harness when he ran for the Oval Office as a Washington outsider/business executive who would reach outside the Beltway and enlist other executives in support of the administration’s economic goals.

More than 30 CEOs of major US firms were on hand for the summit, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh. Some later joined Trump and Saudi officials at the Royal Court Palace for a deal-signing ceremony. Those who spoke to reporters said they weren’t put off by drama surrounding the Trump White House. “We’re just seeing tremendous opportunity with Trump coming here,” said Steven Demetriou, CEO of Jacobs Engineering Group.

Dimon gave a thumbs-up to Trump’s deregulatory agenda in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Most of us in business think that regulations have been holding back growth,” he said.

Arms deals and intentions alone announced on Saturday totaled some $110 billion, in what would be the largest arms package in US history. Meanwhile, Blackstone, the world’s biggest private equity manager, announced an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to invest $100 billion in infrastructure projects, mainly in the US. Derided by Trump at times over the cost of the F-35 fighter jet programme, Lockheed seemed to have made peace with the White House. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner phoned Hewson while meeting a Saudi delegation, suggesting Lockheed lower the cost of an anti-missile system it was pitching to the Saudis.

Price cut or not, Lockheed racked up more than $28 billion in sales and intentions, the company said in a statement, covering integrated air and missile defence, combat ships, tactical aircraft and rotary wing technologies and programs.

Also on hand in Riyadh was Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg.