Trump to Host Top Tech CEOs — Except Musk — at White House Dinner Thursday

FILE PHOTO: Yellow and white striped umbrellas stand open in the recently renovated Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, August 19, 2025. Doug Mills/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Yellow and white striped umbrellas stand open in the recently renovated Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, August 19, 2025. Doug Mills/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Trump to Host Top Tech CEOs — Except Musk — at White House Dinner Thursday

FILE PHOTO: Yellow and white striped umbrellas stand open in the recently renovated Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, August 19, 2025. Doug Mills/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Yellow and white striped umbrellas stand open in the recently renovated Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, August 19, 2025. Doug Mills/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

President Donald Trump will host a high-powered list of tech CEOs for a dinner at the White House on Thursday night.

The guest list is set to include Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a dozen other executives from the biggest artificial intelligence and tech firms, according to the White House.

One notable absence from the guest list is Elon Musk, once a close ally of Trump, whom the president tasked with running the government-slashing Department of Government Efficiency. Musk had a public break with Trump earlier this year.

The dinner will be held in the Rose Garden, where Trump recently paved over the grassy lawn and set up tables, chairs and umbrellas that look strikingly similar to the outdoor setup at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

“The Rose Garden Club at the White House is the hottest place to be in Washington, or perhaps the world. The president looks forward to welcoming top business, political, and tech leaders for this dinner and the many dinners to come on the new, beautiful Rose Garden patio," White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement.

The event will follow a meeting of the White House's new Artificial Intelligence Education task force, which first lady Melania Trump will chair. At least some of the attendees at Thursday's dinner are expected to participate in the task force meeting, which aims to develop AI education for American youth.

The White House confirmed that the guest list for the dinner is also set to include Google founder Sergey Brin and CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and founder Greg Brockman, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, Blue Origin CEO David Limp, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, TIBCO Software chairman Vivek Ranadive, Palantir executive Shyam Sankar, Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang and Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman.

Isaacman was an associate of Musk whom Trump nominated to lead NASA, only to revoke the nomination around the time of his breakup with Musk. Trump cited the revocation of the nomination as one of the reasons Musk was upset with him and called Isaacman “totally a Democrat.”

The dinner was first reported Wednesday by The Hill.



Egypt Imposes Business Curfew to Counter Soaring Fuel Costs

Cairo was forced to raise fuel prices by more than 30 percent, after strikes on regional oil infrastructure and threats against the Strait of Hormuz (File Photo)
Cairo was forced to raise fuel prices by more than 30 percent, after strikes on regional oil infrastructure and threats against the Strait of Hormuz (File Photo)
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Egypt Imposes Business Curfew to Counter Soaring Fuel Costs

Cairo was forced to raise fuel prices by more than 30 percent, after strikes on regional oil infrastructure and threats against the Strait of Hormuz (File Photo)
Cairo was forced to raise fuel prices by more than 30 percent, after strikes on regional oil infrastructure and threats against the Strait of Hormuz (File Photo)

Egypt has ordered shops, restaurants and shopping malls to close from 9:00 pm from Saturday, hoping to curb energy bills that have more than doubled because of the Iran war.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the curfew and said it would last for a month initially.

"Shops, shopping centers, restaurants and cafes will all close at 9:00 pm on weekdays," he said, adding that on Thursdays and Fridays at the weekend they will be allowed to stay open until 10:00 pm, Reuters reported.

The premier said that before the war, Egypt's monthly energy bill was $560 million. Today, for the same quantity, he said Egypt is paying $1.650 billion.

Madbouly said Cairo must work on the "worst-case scenario" in the face of a war whose outcome is unpredictable.

Tourism Minister Sherif Fathy said the new restrictions "will not affect tourists" or flagship destinations, a statement from his office said.

At the beginning of March, Cairo was forced to raise fuel prices by more than 30 percent, after strikes on regional oil infrastructure and threats against the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial shipping route now virtually paralysed by the war.

Around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the waterway in peacetime.

The rerouting of shipping away from the Suez Canal is also depriving Cairo of a vital source of foreign currency.


Turkish Central Bank Forex Sales since Start of Iran War Close to $45 Billion

Turkish Central Bank (official website)
Turkish Central Bank (official website)
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Turkish Central Bank Forex Sales since Start of Iran War Close to $45 Billion

Turkish Central Bank (official website)
Turkish Central Bank (official website)

The Turkish Central Bank's balance sheet for this week will show foreign exchange sales amounting to near $20 billion, bringing the total forex sales since the beginning of the Iran war to nearly $45 billion, bankers said, Reuters reported.

According to calculations made by four bankers, based on preliminary data for the first part of the week and their estimates for the rest of the week, the central bank's balance sheet will show $18-21 billion in foreign exchange sales.

Bankers said that although $8 billion of the total $20 billion was made before a public holiday last week, this figure will be reflected in the balance sheet on the first day of this week.

The central bank sold $26 billion in foreign exchange in the first three weeks of the war, using its gold reserves as well, resulting in a $35 billion decrease in its net reserves.


Mawani Adds Marsa Ocean Shipping's RSX Service to Jeddah Islamic Port

Mawani Adds Marsa Ocean Shipping's RSX Service to Jeddah Islamic Port
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Mawani Adds Marsa Ocean Shipping's RSX Service to Jeddah Islamic Port

Mawani Adds Marsa Ocean Shipping's RSX Service to Jeddah Islamic Port

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has announced the addition of the RSX service by Marsa Ocean Shipping to Jeddah Islamic Port, featuring a capacity of up to 372 TEUs and connecting Jeddah with the regional ports of Aden, Hodeidah, and Djibouti, SPA reported.

This expansion aligns with the National Transport and Logistics Strategy, aiming to enhance the Kingdom’s operational efficiency and its ranking in global performance indicators.

As a primary gateway, Jeddah Islamic Port utilizes its 62 multipurpose berths and specialized terminals to support a total capacity of 130 million tons, reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s position as a global logistics hub connecting three continents.