The world’s richest man. One of the world’s most famous soccer players. The president of soccer’s governing body. Dozens of executives from the finance, tech and energy sectors.
These are some of the guests expected to attend President Trump’s black tie dinner for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia at the White House Tuesday evening.
The red carpet welcome for Prince Mohammed is an extraordinary moment in diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. It is his first visit to the United States since the 2018 killing of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence determined the prince ordered. Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.
After Mr. Khashoggi’s murder, some Western business executives and government officials backed out of Saudi Arabia’s global investment conference, including leaders of major American financial institutions. But by the following year, top deal makers were back at the Riyadh event.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump and the crown prince cast their partnership as one that would reap benefits for both countries. Already, Mr. Trump has agreed to sell F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom, and the prince has promised to invest some $600 billion in the United States.
The White House is expected to release a full list, according to an official. Here is a list of some of the guests expected at the dinner:
Soccer royalty
Cristiano Ronaldo
Mr. Ronaldo, 40, is one of the most famous soccer players in the world, and has won multiple accolades throughout a professional career that began in 2002.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Mr. Ronaldo, a Portuguese national who has played in leagues in England, Spain and Italy, is currently plying his trade with the club team Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. The Saudi government has invested billions of dollars over the years to attract world-class players, and Mr. Ronaldo is the league’s highest-paid player.
— Minho Kim and Ryan Mac
Gianni Infantino
Mr. Infantino is the head of FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, and has served in the role for nearly 10 years. He has grown close to Mr. Trump as the United States prepares to co-host the World Cup in 2026.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Mr. Infantino is also close to Prince Mohammed, and helped award Saudi Arabia the World Cup in 2034. FIFA’s president openly campaigned for the Saudi World Cup bid, pushed for Saudi investment in the sport and created rules for World Cup hosts that all but ensured that the Gulf State would get to hold the event.
— Ryan Mac
Business executives
Elon Musk
Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, is making his first visit to the White House since he left his role in the administration in dramatic fashion, lashing out at Mr. Trump. The two have reached something of a détente in recent months.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Mr. Musk has had a frosty relationship with Saudi leaders that has thawed in recent months. For years, the billionaire has blamed the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, for pulling out of his failed effort to take Tesla private, and has criticized the state’s position on “journalistic freedom of speech.” But Mr. Musk has also accepted Saudi investment in X, his social media site, and xAI, his artificial intelligence company. Humain, a state-backed A.I. company in Saudi Arabia, has hinted it would do deals with xAI.
— Theodore Schleifer and Ryan Mac
David Ellison
David Ellison is the chief executive of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, MTV and Hollywood’s oldest movie studio.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Mr. Ellison is trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in what would be a major multibillion dollar media deal. Mr. Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, is backing those efforts, but the Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund could be among those who participate in the deal.
— Lauren Hirsch
Mike Wirth
Mr. Wirth is the chief executive of Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Chevron has extensive business ties with Saudi Arabia, where one of its corporate ancestors, Standard Oil of California, began exploring for crude oil nearly a century ago. Chevron now produces oil and natural gas on the kingdom’s behalf in the neutral zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Such partnerships between U.S. oil companies and foreign governments or state-owned energy companies are quite common. Chevron, which said it has “a long history of productive cooperation in the kingdom,” also has financial interests in chemicals plants there, and buys Saudi oil.
— Rebecca F. Elliott
Stephen A. Schwarzman
Mr. Schwarzman is the chief executive and co-founder of Blackstone, a large New York-based private equity firm.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Blackstone, which manages $1.25 trillion in assets, has been doing business with Saudi Arabia for many years. During Mr. Trump’s first state visit to the kingdom in 2017, Blackstone announced that the sovereign wealth fund would make an investment of up to $20 billion for a project Blackstone was launching to invest in U.S. infrastructure. Over the years, Mr. Schwarzman has traveled frequently to Riyadh to meet with his Saudi investors and to participate in the kingdom’s annual investment conference. More recently, a Blackstone-backed company called Air Trunk announced plans to help build data centers in Saudi Arabia.
— Kate Kelly
Mary Barra
Ms. Barra is the chief executive of General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia is the largest car market in the Middle East. G.M. sells Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac vehicles in a market dominated by Japanese, Korean and, increasingly, Chinese brands. Her presence may also reflect a desire to maintain good relations with Mr. Trump. His tariffs on imported cars and parts have cost G.M. and other carmakers billions of dollars in profits.
— Jack Ewing
William Clay Ford Jr.
Mr. Ford is the executive chairman of Ford Motor.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Ford recently revamped its management team in Saudi Arabia and has reported brisk growth in the Middle East’s largest car market. But Mr. Ford is probably most interested in maintaining good relations with Mr. Trump, whose tariffs and other policies have had a significant impact on Ford’s business.
— Jack Ewing
Trump family, lawmakers and other executives
Donald Trump Jr.
Donald Trump Jr. is Mr. Trump’s oldest son, and helps lead the family business, the Trump Organization, with Eric Trump, his younger brother.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Mr. Trump served as a liaison to Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia, for his father’s presidential campaign in 2016. After Mr. Khashoggi’s murder in 2018, he also spread an unsubstantiated claim that Mr. Khashoggi had been a terrorist sympathizer.The Trump Organization has a long history of business dealings with Saudi Arabia, ranging from real estate deals in the Middle East to hosting Saudi-backed golf tournaments at Trump properties. Since Mr. Trump’s return to the White House, his sons have also secured a flurry of new real estate deals, including three new developments in Saudi Arabia. More talks are ongoing.
— Minho Kim and Adam Sella
Dina Powell McCormick and Senator Dave McCormick
Ms. Powell McCormick is the head of global client services at BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank and investment firm, and served as a deputy national security adviser to Mr. Trump in his first term. She is married to Senator Dave McCormick, Republican of Pennsylvania and a former money management executive at Bridgewater Associates.
Ties to Saudi Arabia: Both Ms. Powell McCormick and Mr. McCormick have served in Republican White Houses. As a partner at Goldman Sachs, Ms. Powell McCormick oversaw relationships with sovereign wealth funds, including Saudi Arabia’s. She also sits on the executive committee of the Future Investment Initiative Institute, the group that sponsors Saudi Arabia’s annual deal-making conference in Riyadh.
— Kate Kelly and Lauren Hirsch
Ryan Mac, Kate Kelly, Lauren Hirsch, Jack Ewing, Katie Rogers, Rebecca Elliott, Minho Kim, Adam Sella and Theodore Schleifer contributed reporting.
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