Secretive Bilderberg Meeting Draws Pompeo and Kushner

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan, on Friday before traveling to Switzerland for the annual Bilderberg Meeting.CreditCreditFabrizio Bensch/Reuters
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan, on Friday before traveling to Switzerland for the annual Bilderberg Meeting.CreditCreditFabrizio Bensch/Reuters
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Secretive Bilderberg Meeting Draws Pompeo and Kushner

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan, on Friday before traveling to Switzerland for the annual Bilderberg Meeting.CreditCreditFabrizio Bensch/Reuters
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan, on Friday before traveling to Switzerland for the annual Bilderberg Meeting.CreditCreditFabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on a week-long trip to Europe where he is raising sensitive issues with national leaders — from Iranian missiles to Chinese technology to the economic collapse of Venezuela — but the most colorful conversations could take place this weekend out of public earshot in a secretive conclave at a Swiss lakeside resort.

In Montreux, on the eastern shore of Lake Geneva, political and business leaders from Western nations are gathering for the 67th Bilderberg Meeting, an annual forum in which participants agree not to reveal exactly what was said or who said it. It is a shadow version of Davos, the elite annual winter conference in the Swiss Alps that President Trump has attended once but has also criticized.

The State Department has not even put the Bilderberg Meeting on Mr. Pompeo’s public schedule, though a senior official confirmed he was attending Saturday.

Mr. Pompeo landed in Zurich on Friday afternoon after a morning of meetings with German leaders in Berlin, then took a helicopter to Bern, where he spoke at a gathering of department employees at the United States Embassy. Mr. Pompeo was traveling with his wife, Susan.

“Big cheese and chocolate fan,” Mr. Pompeo joked to reporters on the airplane Thursday when someone asked about the three-night stop in Switzerland.

No doubt those culinary treats will be on hand at venues in Montreux, to fuel discussion on 11 central topics now hotly debated in countries around the globe: the future of capitalism, the weaponization of social media, artificial intelligence, Brexit, China, Russia and so on.

Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, is another top administration official planning to attend. The 130 or so participants also include King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands; Stacey Abrams, the American politician; Henry Kissinger, the former senior American foreign policy official; Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google; and David H. Petraeus, the retired general. Some top bank executives are on the list, too.

On at least one subject, climate change, many of the participants are expected to have radically different views than Mr. Pompeo. In early May, the American secretary, speaking at a meeting of the Arctic Council in Finland, praised the changes caused by the melting of ice in the Arctic Circle.

“Steady reductions in sea ice are opening new passageways and new opportunities for trade,” Mr. Pompeo said, while noting the abundance of undiscovered oil and gas, uranium, rare-earth minerals, coal, diamonds and fisheries in the Arctic.

Mr. Pompeo and the Trump administration have also found themselves at odds with European nations on Iran. Mr. Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal that world powers reached with Iran in 2015, but European governments still abide by the accord and have urged Iran to stay in.

In fact, it was at Lake Geneva, in the city of Lausanne, that American negotiators led by Mr. Pompeo’s predecessor John Kerry worked with foreign officials to complete the 2015 deal.

The current split between the Trump administration and Europeans became apparent again on Friday, when Mr. Pompeo met in Berlin with Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister.

“It’s no secret that we have differences with regard to the right approach to pursue,” Mr. Maas said at a news conference afterward.

Mr. Pompeo said he also urged Mr. Maas to ban Hezbollah, the Lebanese military and political group supported by Iran, from Germany, as Britain did this year. Tensions between the United States and Iran have soared since early May, when the Trump administration first announced military movements to counter Iran.

The New York Times



Taiwan Will 'Not Provoke Confrontation' with China, Vice President Says

Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim makes a speech at a briefing for foreign media in Taipei, Taiwan July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim makes a speech at a briefing for foreign media in Taipei, Taiwan July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang
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Taiwan Will 'Not Provoke Confrontation' with China, Vice President Says

Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim makes a speech at a briefing for foreign media in Taipei, Taiwan July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim makes a speech at a briefing for foreign media in Taipei, Taiwan July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Taiwan will not provoke a confrontation with China, the self-ruled island’s vice president said Friday, lamenting Beijing’s “aggressive military posturing” against the island democracy that China claims as its own.

“We do not seek conflict. We will not provoke confrontation,” said Bi-khim Hsiao, adding that her government has urged Beijing to communicate “with parity and respect.”

Hsiao, who has served under Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te since their election win last year, said her government has seen “a dramatic uptick in provocative and proactive CCP efforts to infiltrate, sabotage and divide our society," referring to the Chinese Communist Party, The AP news reported.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly threatened to annex it, by force if necessary. In recent years, Beijing has ramped up its military intimidation of the island, sending jets and ships nearby almost daily.

China refuses to speak with Hsiao and Lai and has labeled them “diehard ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists,” a designation for which it has threatened the death penalty.

In a notable attempt of alleged intimidation by Beijing, Czech intelligence officials last month said Chinese diplomats planned to stage a car crash during Hsiao's 2024 visit to the country. No crash occurred, but a Chinese official ran a red light while following Hsiao’s car.

Speaking at the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club in Taipei, Hsiao said she has experienced “varying degrees of pressure and threats” over the years, including sanctions by China.

“But I will not let that intimidate me or stop me from voicing my views or from voicing the views of the people of Taiwan, and we will continue to be active in the international community,” she said.

Regarding recurring US intelligence reports that China may be planning to invade Taiwan before 2027, Hsiao said her government is focused on preempting that.

“Everything we are doing right now is to prevent such a conflict from happening — not just in 2027, but ever,” she said.

Taiwan is “very urgently investing in our self-defense capabilities” in order to deter “any miscalculation and any attempt at disrupting the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” she added.

Taiwan on Friday wrapped up annual military drills, which simulated defenses against a possible invasion by China. The drills included fortifying ports and possible Chinese landing points on the island, as well as civil defense exercises.

Taiwan sources most of its weapons from the United States, which is bound by its own laws to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

Like most countries, the US does not recognize Taiwan as country, but acts as its main unofficial ally. Washington supports preserving the status quo in Taipei’s relationship with Beijing, which means neither side should make a move toward independence or annexation, respectively.

Taiwan’s relationship with the US is “very important” and has historically held through different administrations while garnering bipartisan congressional support, Hsiao said.

Trade negotiators from the two sides are working “around the clock” to reach a deal that would pre-empt tariffs of 32% on all Taiwanese goods from coming into effect Aug. 1, she said. Washington lowered tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 10% for 90 days to allow for the trade talks.

The tariffs are part of duties President Donald Trump levied against nearly all US trading partners beginning in April, accusing them of running large trade surpluses.