What Trump told CEOs in their private meeting

Donald
Trump
huddled
with
at
least
80
CEOs
on
Thursday
in
Washington
with
a
clear
pitch:
If
he
is
elected
president
again
in
November,
the
CEOs
are
going
to
see
tax
cuts
and
a
curtailment
of
business
regulations,
according
to
people
who
attended
the
meeting.

CNBC
spoke
with
people
who
attended
the
Business
Roundtable’s
quarterly
meeting
and
others
familiar
with
what
took
place
there,
all
of
whom
were
granted
anonymity
in
order
to
speak
freely
about
a
private
gathering.

Trump
said
that
if
he
is
returned
to
the
White
House
he
will
cut
taxes,
including
income
taxes,
and
bring
back
the
same
economic
policies
he
enacted
during
his
first
term, according
to
people
who
were
in
the
meeting.

“We’re
going
to
give
you
more
of
the
same
for
the
next
four
years,”
a
person
who
was
in
the
room
said,
describing
Trump’s
message
for
the
company
leaders.

Trump
said
he
wants
to
bring
the
federal

corporate
tax
rate
down
from

21%
to
20%
if
he
were
to
become
president,
according
to
a
person
familiar
with
his
remarks.

Trump
also
mentioned
to
the
CEOs
a
recent
proposal
he
rolled
out
in
Nevada,

to
eliminate
taxes
on
worker

tips,
said
people
who
were
in
the
room.
Trump
then
told
the
CEOs
a
story
about
how
excited
tipped
workers
were
about
his
proposal,
prompting
laughter
from
the
corporate
leaders,
according
to
multiple
people.

Trump
spoke
for
about
an
hour
at
the
meeting,
said
people
in
attendance.
The

audience
included

JPMorgan
Chase CEO

Jamie
Dimon, Citigroup CEO Jane
Fraser
and

Bank
of
America CEO Brian
Moynihan,
according
to
spokespeople
from
their
companies.

Apple
CEO
Tim
Cook
was
also
there,
said
two
people
who
were
in
the
room.
A
spokesperson
for
Cook
declined
to
comment
on
whether
he
attended
the
meeting.

President
Joe
Biden’s
chief
of
staff
Jeff
Zients
addressed
the
group
earlier
in
the
day,
one
attendee
said.

Representatives
for
the
Trump
campaign
and
the
Business
Roundtable
did
not
respond
to
requests
for
comment
before
publication.

For
Trump
and
the
CEOs
who
attended,
the
meeting
represented
an
effort
to
mend
relations
after
some
have
distanced
themselves
from
the
former
president.

In
2017,
the
Trump
administration’s
major
business
advisory
groups
were
disbanded
after
members
began
resigning
in
response
to

Trump‘s
attempt
to
equate
“both
sides”
of
the
Charlottesville,
Virginia,
protests,
one
side
of
which
featured
white
nationalists.
During
the
riot
on

Jan.
6,
2021,
on
Capitol
Hill,
executives,
including
members
of
the
Business
Roundtable,
called
on
Trump
to
stop
the
violence.

In
the
meeting
Thursday,
Trump
also
took
a
dig
at
Biden.
“We
need
a
president
who
is
at
the
top
of
his
game,
and
let’s
face
it,
this
president
is
not
at
the
top
of
his
game,”
Trump
said,
according
to
a
person
who
was
in
the
room.

Trump
told
a
meeting
full
of

House
Republicans
earlier
in
the
day
about
the
idea
of
imposing
an
“all
tariff
policy”
that
he
said
would
enable
the
U.S.
to
get
rid
of
income
tax,
according
to
attendees
who
were
granted
anonymity
to
speak
about
a
private
meeting.