((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Added details on Zients in paragraphs 6 and 7) by David Shepardson, Joey Roulette and Gram Slattery
Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Jeff Zients, U.S. President Joe Biden’s White House chief secretary, met with U.S. business leaders in Washington on Thursday, seeking to curry favor with the business world. business a few months before the elections, according to two sources.
Mr. Trump was interviewed by conservative commentator Larry Kudlow, who was a key economic adviser during Mr. Trump’s term from 2017 to 2021, the sources said. JP Morgan Chase JPM.N Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, Xerox Chief Executive Steven Bandrowczak, Gap Inc Chairman Richard Dickson and Truist Chief Executive Bill Rogers were seen leaving the building after the meeting.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook was seen sitting in the front row, Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore said.
Mr. Trump’s meeting with the Business Roundtable, which counts more than 200 business leaders among its members, focused on the economy. Mr. Moore said the former president “had a very pro-business message” that emphasized tax cuts for businesses and reduced regulation.
Thursday’s duel shows that both candidates are increasingly trying to woo powerful, deep-pocketed business leaders as the election approaches. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May, 44% of registered voters said they thought Mr. Trump had a better plan for the economy, compared with 33% who supported Mr. Biden’s economic strategy.
Mr. Zients, who was interviewed by Comcast CMCSA.O Chief Executive Brian Roberts, said that Mr. Biden did not want to start a trade war with China and that the United States was in a stronger position by relation to China than four years ago, according to a person present in the room.
On taxes, Zients said the president believes the United States needs to raise revenue, but it also needs to be competitive on investment.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES, TAXES
Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, who are engaged in a bitter battle five months before the November 5 election, disagree on a number of major economic issues.
Mr. Biden has made environmental protection a central part of his economic plans. His administration created a series of incentives for the purchase and use of electric vehicles, and in January it suspended approval of applications to export liquefied natural gas for new projects.
Mr. Trump, while sometimes sketchy, has attacked measures intended to accelerate the U.S. economy’s transition away from fossil fuels and has repeatedly asserted that electric vehicles don’t work.
Mr. Trump “has said that one of his first priorities when he returns to office will be to unleash American energy,” Mr. Moore said, adding that “we are playing into the hands of China, Russia and of OPEC by not producing more”
During his term, Mr. Trump cut the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, reductions that Mr. Moore has said he wants to make permanent. Mr. Biden has proposed raising the top tax rate for large businesses to 28%, which is lower than historic levels but higher than the current rate.
BUSINESS TITANS RETURN TO TRUMP
Both men used tariffs extensively to protect American industry. Mr. Trump has proposed imposing 10% tariffs on all imports.
President Trump’s “America First” economic agenda will result in middle-class tax cuts, record reductions in regulation, fair trade, abundant energy, low inflation, better wages and the restoration of “Rule of law in America,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump’s campaign.
While in Washington, Trump is also expected to address Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives at locations near the Capitol. These meetings should focus on the political priorities of a possible second term for Mr. Trump.
The Business Roundtable regularly asks presidential candidates from the major parties to address the group during election years. Still, Mr. Trump’s appearance underscores the fact that some in the business community have moved closer to the former president after many companies distanced themselves from him and his supporters in the wake of the June 6 attack. January 2021 at the Capitol.
In the weeks after the attack, many major companies said they would no longer donate to federal politicians who denied the legitimacy of the 2020 vote, which Mr. Biden won, although many have since appeared to discreetly backtrack on this commitment.
Business titans like Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone, previously abandoned Mr. Trump, only to announce during this election cycle that they would support him after he easily brushed aside his rivals in the race for the Republican presidential nomination earlier this year.
