By The New York Times Nov. 18, 2025 - Who Attended Trump’s Dinner for the Saudi Crown Prince?

 The New York Times 

Who Attended Trump’s Dinner for the Saudi Crown Prince?

Here are some of the notable guests invited to President Trump’s dinner for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

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President Trump, wearing a bow tie and a black suit, stands in a ornately decorated room in front of long tables of seated people.

President Trump at a dinner on Tuesday during the Saudi crown prince’s visit to Washington.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times

By The New York Times

Nov. 18, 2025

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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 who attended President Trump’s black-tie dinner for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia at the White House on 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 event in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

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 nearly $1 trillion in the United States.

A White House official shared a list of guests. Here are some of the notable attendees at the dinner, many of whom had business ties with Saudi Arabia:

Soccer royalty

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Cristiano Ronaldo, a Portuguese national, is currently playing with the club team Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times

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

Tech moguls

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Elon Musk has had a frosty relationship with Saudi leaders that has thawed in recent months.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times

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

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During a visit to Saudi Arabia in late 2024, Tim Cook pledged to open Apple stores there by 2026.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Tim Cook

Mr. Cook, the chief executive of Apple, was also one of the tech moguls in attendance at Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

Ties to Saudi Arabia:Apple has spent over $2 billion with companies in Saudi Arabia over the past five years, and during a visit to the country in late 2024, Mr. Cook pledged to open Apple stores there by 2026. The company has faced some blowback for hosting a Saudi app that allows men to track the movement of their wives and daughters. In 2019, Mr. Cook said he would investigate the app, but it is still available today.

— Adam Sella

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Michael Dell, the chief executive of Dell, has overseen significant business deals with Saudi Arabia.Credit...Evan Vucci/Associated Press

Michael Dell

Michael Dell is the chief executive of Dell, one of the world’s largest tech companies.

Ties to Saudi Arabia: Dell Technologies has done significant business in Saudi Arabia, including opening a fulfillment center in Damman earlier this year. The facility “marks a significant milestone in our commitment to supporting Saudi Arabia’s ambitious vision for the future,” a Dell executive said. The company also signed a memorandum of understanding in February with Aramco, the state-owned oil company, to “explore opportunities” in a number of areas, including artificial intelligence. The company has also signed a similar memorandum with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority.

— Jesse Drucker

Chuck Robbins

Mr. Robbins is the chief executive of Cisco Systems, one of the largest makers of computer networking equipment

Ties to Saudi Arabia: In May, Mr. Robbins visited Saudi Arabia to secure a deal with Humain, a Saudi AI start-up, that was announced during Mr. Trump’s visit to the country. (Jeetu Patel, another executive at the company, also visited Saudi Arabia on behalf of the deal.) Cisco’s partnership with Saudi Arabia stretches back to early 2018, before Mr. Khashoggi was murdered, when Cisco agreed to work with the Saudi Telecom Company to bring a 5G network to the country.

— Adam Sella

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Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, traveled to Saudi Arabia with President Trump in May.Credit...Eric Lee for The New York Times

Jensen Huang

Mr. Huang is the chief executive of the A.I. chip behemoth Nvidia.

Ties to Saudi Arabia: Mr. Huang traveled to Saudi Arabia with Mr. Trump in May, where he announced a partnership between his company and Humain, a Saudi Arabian A.I. firm. As part of the deal, Nvidia will sell about 18,000 of its latest chips to help power new data centers. At the time, a larger contract for A.I. technologies was also being discussed.The deal has raised concern inside and outside the White House about whether China could acquire the advanced technology, and whether the gulf region could one day supplant the United States as A.I. leaders.

— Adam Sella

Tareq Amin

Tareq Amin is the chief executive of the Saudi-backed artificial intelligence firm Humain, which received roughly $1 trillion in funding from the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

Ties to Saudi Arabia: Mr. Amin, a Jordanian American, was an executive at Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company, until he was asked to run the A.I. firm by Prince Mohammed. When Mr. Trump visited Riyadh in May, Humain was given a preliminary go-ahead to buy 18,000 A.I. chips from Nvidia.

— Minho Kim

Lisa Su

Ms. Su is the chief executive of AMD, the major computer chips company.

Ties to Saudi Arabia: Alongside Humain, the Saudi state-backed A.I. company, AMD has committed billions of dollars to fund A.I. data centers in Saudi Arabia and the United States. The company has said that partnering with Humain has driven “U.S. leadership in the global A.I. race.”

— Ryan Mac

Business executives

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 sovereign wealth fund could be part of the deal.

— Lauren Hirsch

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A portrait of Mike Wirth. He is wearing a blue suit and sitting on the edge of his desk. Behind him there are plants an two hats: One cowboy hat and one hard hat.

Mike Wirth is the chief executive of Chevron, which has extensive business ties with Saudi Arabia.Credit...George Etheredge for The New York Times

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

Jane Fraser

Ms. Fraser is the chair and chief executive of Citi, a large consumer and investment bank that is based in New York but does business in 180 countries.

Ties to Saudi Arabia: Last month, Ms. Fraser was named the co-chair of the U.S. Saudi Business Council, which encourages business ties between the two countries. Her bank has a longstanding client relationship with the kingdom, for which it has advised on a variety of deals over the years. In the type of move that has been encouraged as part of Prince Mohammed’s economic plans, Citi last year obtained a license to establish its regional headquarters in Riyadh.

— Kate Kelly

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Stephen A. Schwarzman has traveled frequently to Riyadh to meet with his Saudi investors.Credit...Nina Westervelt for The New York Times

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

Brendan Bechtel

Mr. Bechtel is the chief executive of Bechtel, one of the largest construction companies in the United States.

Ties to Saudi Arabia: Bechtel’s business is booming in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Bechtel wrote last week in a Saudi newspaper that his company had worked on 300 projects in Saudi Arabia, from the Riyadh Metro and the Trans-Arabian Pipeline to gold mines and the World Expo 2030 site. “Our partnership has lasted through technological change, global upheaval, and 14 U.S. presidents. And it is still going strong,” he wrote.

— Adam Sella

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Mary Barra’s presence at the dinner may reflect a desire to maintain good relations with Mr. Trump.Credit...Brett Carlsen for The New York Times

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

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William Clay Ford Jr. is also likely interested in maintaining good relations with Mr. Trump.Credit...Jana Rodenbusch/Reuters

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 members

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Donald Trump Jr. helps lead the family business, the Trump Organization, with Eric Trump, his younger brother.Credit...Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times

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

The full White House list of guests:

The president of the United States and Melania Trump, the first lady

Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia

Mohammad Abunayyan, chairman of the board of directors of ACWA Power

Bill Ackman, chief executive of Pershing Square Capital Management, and Neri Oxman

Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, minister of culture

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, foreign minister

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, minister of energy

Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, ambassador to the United States

Musaad bin Mohammad al-Aiban, national security adviser and minister of state

Adwa al-Arifi, assistant minister for sport affairs

Salman bin Yousef al-Dossary, minister of media

Khalid al-Falih, minister of investment

Mohammed al-Jadaan, minister of finance

Majid bin Abdullah al-Kasabi, minister of commerce

Jeremy Allaire, chief executive of Circle

Lubna al-Olayan, chairwoman of the Saudi British Bank

Abdulrahman Rashed al-Rashed, Saudi businessman

Abdulrahman Hamad al-Rashed, Saudi columnist and former media executive

Yasir bin Othman al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia

Princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al Saud, vice minister of tourism

Mohammad bin Abdulmalik al-Sheikh, minister of state

Sarah al-Suhaimi, chair of the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul

Abdullah al-Swaha, minister of communications

Mohammed bin Mazyad al-Tuwaijri, adviser to the royal court

Tareq Amin, chief executive of Humain

Cristiano Amon, chief executive of Qualcomm, and Adriana Gamba Amon

Brian Armstrong, chief executive of Coinbase

Bret Baier, Fox News host, and Amy Baier

Mary Barra, chief executive of General Motors, and Tony Barra

Maria Bartiromo, Fox television host

Brendan Bechtel, chief executive of Bechtel

Marc Beckman, chief executive of DMA United

Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Attorney General Pam Bondi and John Wakefield

Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer

Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI, and Anna Brockman

Stefan E. Brodie and Elizabeth Brodie

Doug Burgum, interior secretary

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Charles Cascarilla, chief executive of Paxos

Derek Chang

Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple

Larry Culp, chief executive of GE Aerospace, and Wendy Culp

Bryson DeChambeau, professional golfer

Michael S. Dell, chief executive of Dell Technologies, and Susan Dell

Hala Altuwaijri, president of the Human Rights Commission in Saudi Arabia

David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Global

William Clay Ford Jr., executive chairman of Ford Motor, and Lisa Ford

Jane Fraser, chief executive of Citigroup

Jamieson Greer, U.S. trade representative, and Marlo Greer

Charles S. Hallab, chief executive of the U.S.-Saudi Business Council

Josh Harris, owner of the Washington Commanders, and Marjorie Harris

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Jennifer Hegseth

Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, and Lori Huang

Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA

Speaker Mike Johnson and Kelly Johnson

Khaled Juffali, Saudi businessman and board member of the Saudi Central Bank

Abdullah bin Saleh Kamel, Saudi businessman

Vimal Kapur, chief executive of Honeywell

Alex Karp, chief executive of Palantir Technologies

Arvind Krishna, chief executive of IBM

Christopher Landau, deputy secretary of state

Howard Lutnick, commerce secretary, and Allison Lutnick

Kris Marszalek, chief executive of Crypto.com

Representative Brian Mast, Republican of Florida

Senator Dave McCormick, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Dina Powell McCormick, former deputy national security adviser to Mr. Trump

Bill McDermott, chief executive of ServiceNow

Sanjay Mehrotra, chief executive of Micron Technology

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla

Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company

Phebe Novakovic, chief executive of General Dynamics

Scott O’Neil, chief executive of LIV Golf, and Lisa O’Neil

Meredith O’Rourke, Mr. Trump’s lead campaign finance operative

Kelly Ortberg, chief executive of Boeing, and Valerie Ortberg

Ross Perot Jr. and Sarah Perot

Senator James Risch, Republican of Idaho, and Vicki Risch

Chuck Robbins, chief executive of Cisco

John F.W. Rogers, executive vice president of Goldman Sachs and Deborah Lehr

Brooke L. Rollins, agriculture secretary, and Mark Rollins

Cristiano Ronaldo, professional soccer player, and Georgina Rodríguez

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jeanette Rubio

David Sacks, Mr. Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto czar

Charles Schwab and Helen Schwab

Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone, and Christine Schwarzman

Jeffrey Sprecher, chief executive of Intercontinental Exchange, and Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration

Scott Strazik, chief executive of GE Vernova

Lisa Su, chief executive of Advanced Micro Devices, and Daniel Lin

James Taiclet, chief executive of Lockheed Martin, and Carol Taiclet

Vlad Tenev, chief executive of Robinhood Markets

Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson

Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos

Jim Umpleby, chief executive of Caterpillar

Vice President JD Vance and Usha Vance, the second lady

Kathy Warden, chief executive of Northrop Grumman, and Charles Warden

Mike Wirth, chief executive of Chevron

Chris Wright, energy secretary

Stephen Wynn and Andrea Wynn

Eric Yuan, chief executive of Zoom

Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency administrator

Reporting was contributed by Ryan Mac, Kate Kelly, Lauren Hirsch, Jack Ewing, Katie Rogers, Rebecca Elliott, Minho Kim, Adam Sella, Jesse Drucker, Vivian Nereim and Theodore Schleifer.

A correction was made on Nov. 18, 2025: An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the chief executive of AMD. She is Lisa Su, not Linda.

Corrections were made on Nov. 19, 2025: Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misidentified a Saudi businessman. He is Abdullah bin Saleh Kamel, not Saleh Abdullah Kamel.

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated the company where Bill McDermott is chief executive. Mr. McDermott is the chief executive at ServiceNow, not SoftwareNow.