Billionaires assess President Donald Trump’s 100 days

Four thousand of the wealthiest, most influential leaders in the world descend on Beverly Hills, California, this week for the annual Milken Institute Global Conference, in what amounts to a peer review of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.

Tue, 02 May, 2017 - 01:00

President Trump’s voice will be represented at the event by four members of his cabinet: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Elaine Chao, the Secretary of Transportation.

Also on the agenda are former president George W Bush and former vice president Joe Biden. Both are set to be interviewed by Mike Milken himself, the onetime omnipotent credit investor who later pleaded guilty to securities fraud and now is a renowned philanthropist and public health advocate.

One discussion panel is called, ‘The First 100 Days — and the Next 1,000.’

The US Chamber of Commerce’s Jodi Hanson Bond and Geronimo Gutierrez, Mexico’s ambassador to the US, will join the debate on whether the North American Free Trade Agreement, which President Trump has heavily scrutinised, should be scrapped. Attendees pay as much as $50,000 (€45,860) for all-access passes.

This year’s event is a homecoming of sorts for Mr Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner who later relocated to Los Angeles to invest in banks and films.

Commerce Secretary Ross, who made his fortune snatching up and rebuilding distressed businesses, also slips in with the Wall Street who’s-who milling about the Beverly Hills Hilton.

The presence of key Trump advisers is an ironic twist from last year’s conference. Business leaders then looked gloomily at the prospects of the contentious election, with some openly expressing disfavour for the billionaire Republican candidate. Mr Trump was victorious six months later.