CEO DATELINE - Trade group CEOs meet privately with Trump
CEO DATELINE - Trade group CEOs meet privately with Trump
- April 4, 2016 |
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WILLIAM EHART
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It's no secret that nearly all trade group executives who have contributed to GOP presidential candidates gave to the failed candidacies of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. Nor is it a secret that volatile frontrunner Donald Trump bashes "special interests." Both sides have derided the other—Trump in public, business lobbyists in private.
But business is business, it's not personal.
Perhaps in that spirit, trade group executives had a private meeting with Trump last Thursday in Washington, D.C., according to The New York Times.
Among them were Nick Calio, CEO of Airlines for America, and Juanita Duggan, CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business. Both are Republican donors and have ties to previous GOP administrations.
Spokespersons for Calio and Duggan confirmed their attendance to the Times, but had no comment on the substance of the meeting.
The Times reported the meeting involved more than a dozen industry leaders. The meeting was held in the Old Post Office building, where Trump is building a hotel.
Calio was a legislative affairs aide to President George W. Bush and donated $2,700 to Bush last year. Duggan, a veteran of the Reagan and first Bush administrations, also gave $2,700 to Bush's campaign, another $1,000 to a pro-Bush PAC and in January contributed $1,000 to Rubio.
In anonymous comments to CEO Update last months, some trade group chiefs expressed deep concern about a possible Trump nomination, not just because of the tone of his campaign and his possible negative impact on Senate and House races, but also because they can't be sure where he stands on issues.
A Trump spokeswoman told the Times that Trump's adviser, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), arranged the meeting. She added that Trump did not know the industry chiefs prior to the meeting, which she said was brief. http://nyti.ms/23aYrPg
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