--- title: Here Are the Executives Donald Trump Dined with at Davos description: The President said he made 15 new friends at a dinner in Davos, Switzerland at The World Economic Forum. canonical: https://time.com/5120298/doanld-trump-executives-dined-davos/ author: Alix Langone article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-26T16:11:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:47:56.109Z article:section: Politics og:title: These Are Trump's '15 New Friends' from Davos og:description: President Trump has dinner with some of the most powerful executives in the world og:url: https://time.com/5120298/doanld-trump-executives-dined-davos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10c7d0db4fc72fda/6988f98c4ee2624cb0310a19/trump-davos-new-friends.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: trump-davos-new-friends.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are Trump's '15 New Friends' from Davos twitter:description: President Trump has dinner with some of the most powerful executives in the world twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10c7d0db4fc72fda/6988f98c4ee2624cb0310a19/trump-davos-new-friends.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's '15 New Friends': Here Are the Executives the President Dined With at Davos > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3baf7fe5-406a-48ea-9c20-84f3758b0209&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump Tells World Economic Forum: 'America Is Open for Business' [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Tells World Economic Forum: 'America Is Open for Business'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qPM58i0m.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2018-01-26. President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. economic growth promoted by his policies would help the world, seeking to square his “America First” agenda with globalism_ by [Alix Langone](https://time.com/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Jan 26, 2018 4:11 PM UTC by [Alix Langone](https://time.com/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Jan 26, 2018 4:11 PM UTC After his speech at the [World Economic Forum](http://time.com/5120097/donald-trump-davos-speech/?xid=homepage) in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, President Donald Trump boasted he had made “15 new friends” during a dinner Thursday with the heads of some of the biggest multinational companies in the world. “We had dinner last night with about 15 leaders of industry – none of whom I knew, but all of whom I’ve read about for years – and it was truly and an incredible group,” Trump told Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum. “And I think I have 15 new friends. So this has been really great what you’ve done and putting it together, the economic forum.” The business leaders, who are all men, represent some of the largest companies in Europe, across multiple sectors of the economy – from financial services and telecommunications to sportswear. Also present at the dinner were some of the president’s closest advisers, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster and Chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn. Here is the list of dinner guests, according to [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/here-s-who-s-having-dinner-with-trump-at-davos): * Werner Baumann, CEO of German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG * Carlos Brito, CEO of Brazilian-Belgian beveragemaker Anheuser-Busch InBev NV * Heinrich Hiesinger, CEO of German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp AG * Joe Kaeser, CEO of German conglomerate Siemens AG * Martin Lundstedt, CEO of Swedish automaker AB Volvo * Bill McDermott, CEO of German software company SAP SE * Vas Narasimhan, incoming CEO of Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG * Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of French oil company Total SA * Punit Renjen, CEO of U.K. consultant company Deloitte * Kasper Rorsted, CEO of German apparel maker Adidas * Eldar Saetre, CEO of Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA * Mark Schneider, CEO of Swiss food company Nestle SA * Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO of Swedish-Swiss engineering company ABB Ltd * Rajeev Suri, CEO of Finnish tech company Nokia Corporation * Mark Tucker, Group Chairman of U.K. bank HSBC ## Transcript I'm here to deliver a simple message. It has never been a better time to hire, to build, to invest and to grow in the United States. America is open for business and we are competitive once again. I believe in America. As President of the United States I will always put America first just like the leaders of other countries should put their country first also. But America first does not mean America alone. So together let us resolve to use our power, our resources, and our voices. Not just for ourselves but for our people, to lift their burdens, to raise their hopes and to empower their dreams. To protect their families, their communities, their histories and their futures. That's what we're doing in America and the results are totally unmistakable. It's why new businesses and investments are flooding in. It's why our unemployment rate Is the lowest it's been in so many decades. It's why America's future has never been brighter. Today I am inviting all of you to become part of this incredible future we are building together. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5120298/doanld-trump-executives-dined-davos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5120298/doanld-trump-executives-dined-davos/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's '15 New Friends': Here Are the Executives the President Dined With at Davos","datePublished":"2018-01-26T16:11:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T08:47:56.109Z","description":"Calling the business leaders at a dinner he attended an \"incredible group,\" Trump said he made new friends","url":"https://time.com/5120298/doanld-trump-executives-dined-davos/","keywords":["politics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10c7d0db4fc72fda/6988f98c4ee2624cb0310a19/trump-davos-new-friends.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alix Langone","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alix-langone/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10c7d0db4fc72fda/6988f98c4ee2624cb0310a19/trump-davos-new-friends.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump-davos-new-friends.jpg","caption":"President Trump Addresses The World Economic Forum (WEF)","creditText":"Jason Alden -Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5120298/doanld-trump-executives-dined-davos/","name":"Donald Trump's '15 New Friends': Here Are the Executives the President Dined With at Davos"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Donald Trump Tells World Economic Forum: 'America Is Open for Business'","description":"President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. economic growth promoted by his policies would help the world, seeking to square his “America First” agenda with globalism","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qPM58i0m/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-01-26T14:22:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qPM58i0m.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5120298/doanld-trump-executives-dined-davos/","duration":"PT1M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5120298/doanld-trump-executives-dined-davos/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```