President Donald Trump will bring together the heads of the world’s largest technology companies for a dinner in the newly renovated White House Rose Garden on Thursday. The event, the first to be held in the redesigned space, signals the administration’s intent to position artificial intelligence and big tech at the center of its second-term agenda.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to be one of the highest-profile attendees. His presence highlights Apple’s ongoing strategy to maintain strong ties with the White House, particularly as the company pushes new U.S. manufacturing investments and positions itself in the growing competition over AI. Cook has made several White House appearances in recent months, most recently presenting Trump with a commemorative plaque during a visit tied to Apple’s factory expansion plans.
The dinner will follow a separate event on artificial intelligence hosted earlier in the day by First Lady Melania Trump, where Google CEO Sundar Pichai is scheduled to speak. Other confirmed guests include Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Google cofounder Sergey Brin.
The guest list highlights how the administration is drawing in leaders across AI, hardware, and cloud computing. For Apple, participation in the Rose Garden dinner will be a chance to shape conversations on AI regulation, data privacy, and its role in balancing hardware leadership with AI-driven services. Cook has been cautious in his public remarks on AI, often framing it as a tool that can be “integrated responsibly” rather than rolled out at breakneck speed. This stance could put him at odds with companies like Meta and OpenAI, which are pushing more aggressively into generative AI.
The optics of the event are also notable. By bringing Silicon Valley’s most influential figures into the newly paved and redesigned Rose Garden, Trump is signaling both his influence over the sector and his desire to be seen as the central broker of the AI conversation.
While not every major figure will be present — Elon Musk has said he was invited but cannot attend — the gathering illustrates the weight that Trump is placing on technology leadership. For Apple, it will be as much about optics as policy, projecting Cook as both a statesmanlike figure and a careful negotiator in a room full of rivals.
