Handful of FTSE-100 chiefs to meet Trump during UK state visit
Bosses from Barclays, GSK and 鈥嶯ational Grid will hold talks with President Trump on Tuesday, Sky News can reveal.
Friday 31 May 2019 18:40, UK
The bosses of Barclays, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and National Grid are among a handful of British company executives 鈥巌nvited for talks with US President Donald Trump during his state visit to the UK next week.
Sky News has exclusively obtained the list of companies that will be represented at a roundtable breakfast with Mr Trump and Theresa May, the outgoing prime minister, on Tuesday.
The chairman of defence contractor BAE Systems and chief executive of Cillit Bang-maker Reckitt Benckiser are understood to make up the contingent of British companies, while US counterparts will include executives from JP Morgan, the fund manager Fidelity, defence company Lockheed Martin, cosmetics giant Estee Lauder and Splunk Software Technology, City sources said on Friday.
The meeting will come at an important time for the Anglo-US trade relationship, with Mr Trump having appeared to cast doubt on the prospects for a rapid bilateral post-Brexit trade deal during his previous visit to the UK last year.
Sources said the British corporate contingent had been invited based on their extensive US presence.
BAE, Barclays, GSK, National Grid and RB all derive a significant proportion of their revenues from the American market.
Those expected to attend the meeting at St James's Palace are: Sir Roger Carr, BAE chairman; Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays; Emma Walmsley, GSK chief executive; John Pettigrew, who runs National Grid; and Rakesh Kapoor, who is due to step down shortly as CEO of RB.
HRH The Duke of York is also expected to join the talks.
A City source said that Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan, may attend the meeting as the bank's representative.
The specific agenda for the meeting was unclear on Friday morning, although escalating global trade tensions are likely to be raised by executives.
Ahead of his trip to the UK, Mr Trump praised Boris Johnson, one of the principal contenders to replace Mrs May as the Conservative leader and PM.
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Mr Johnson's relationship with the British business community is in a fragile state, having famously said "f*** business" in response to employers' concerns about a no-deal Brexit.
Newspaper reports on Friday said that Mr Trump would also raise the issue of US intelligence-sharing with the UK if the government allows the Chinese telecoms equipment manufacturer Huawei Technologies to play any role in the construction of Britain's new 5G communications networks.
Gavin Williamson was sacked as defence secretary several weeks ago after being accused of leaking details of National Security Council discussions on the issue.
None of the companies invited to attend next week's meeting with Mr Trump would comment on Friday morning.