Donald Trump brings weight of the presidency to Saudis’ Miami business conference
President Donald Trump spoke Wednesday at Saudi Arabia’s annual investment conference in South Florida, a sign the oil giant is increasingly reaching the American mainstream with a signature event designed to promote the country as a global actor seeking to diversify its economy.
Trump’s speech at the Faena Forum on Miami Beach kicked off the Future Investment Initiative Institute Priority Summit Miami 2025 by showcasing the Saudis’ relationship with the world’s most powerful man. The event is backed by the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which Bloomberg estimates holds $925 billion in assets under management.
“Today is a tremendous honor, to become the first American president to address the Future Investment Initiative Institute,” Trump told the audience, which included businessman Elon Musk, his chief of staff and national security advisor.
Trump, whose Doral resort is scheduled to host the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament in April, has called on the oil-rich nation to invest $1 trillion in the United States. His son-in-law Jared Kushner — whose private equity firm does business with the Public Investment Fund — is scheduled to speak Thursday at the event with Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff about the possibility of a “new era” of investment between the Middle East and the United States.
This week’s conference is the Saudis’ third in Miami Beach since 2023, but it is the first time Trump is attending. His presence suggests the Saudis have at least partly succeeded in diverting human rights as a concern, which in the past kept guests from attending or participating.
The three-day event is drawing billionaires, wealth managers, CEOs and venture capitalists, as well as some people close to the Trump family. With the event, the Public Investment Fund is looking to draw investment back to Saudi Arabia and for opportunities in the United States.
Who is attending?
Heavy hitters from the finance world scheduled to appear on Thursday and Friday include Rob Capito, president and co-founder of Blackrock, Evan Russo, CEO of Lazard Asset Management, and Lisa McGeough, HSBC US president, CEO & head of banking. They’ll be on a panel titled “Global Markets in 2025: Reasons for Optimism and Saudi Arabia’s Investment Edge” that’ll be moderated by Robert Smith, founder of Vista Equity Partners, which manages over $100 billion in equity assets.
The tech world will also have prominent participants, including Ben Horowitz, founding partner with venture capital firm a16z, Masayoshi Son, chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., and Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber.
Attendees include billionaires with close ties to South Florida. Kenneth Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, is on a panel with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and H.E. Khalid bin Abdul Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s minister of investment. The panel is titled “Enabling Purpose: How to Create Resilient Economies for Uncertain Times.”
Other scheduled speakers with South Florida ties include Jorge Mas and Sam Nazarian.
CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC and The Wall Street Journal have journalists serving as moderators. Other speakers include Steve Cohen, chairman and CEO of Point 72, Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle and Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines. Athletes Serena Williams and Lance Armstrong are also scheduled.
What is the Future Investment Initiative
FII’s website says it is a non-profit that seeks to “bring together leaders, visionaries, and innovators from around the world to explore the future of global investment.”
The flagship conference, which started in Riyadh in 2017, “ignites powerful dialogues, shapes investment trends, and navigates the uncertainties of our times.”
Sessions this week will focus on what the group calls its four pillars: artificial intelligence and robotics, healthcare, education and sustainability.
The country considers the Public Investment Fund and Saudi Vision 2030 — the blueprint for how the investment fund can be used to change its economy — as key to the country diversifying away from oil. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said in January after Trump was inaugurated that his country would seek to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.
Prior conferences were more controversial. In 2018, journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Saudi Arabia. That initially clouded the conference.
Numerous executives, including Uber’s Khosrowshahi, didn’t attend FII’s flagship conference in Riyadh in 2018.
Even today, there are critics. Human Rights Watch is hosting a press conference in Miami Beach on Thursday to discuss how the conference, according to the organization, is “whitewashing the Saudi government’s egregious human rights abuses.”
Saudi supporters, though, see the nation as a big source of capital that is tough to resist, but also serious about several efforts to diversify their economy.
The country’s even betting on becoming a hub for the growing cruise industry. It’s looking to Miami-Dade County and the PortMiami for advice.
Last April, at a cruise industry trade show in Miami Beach, Cruise Saudi, a government-owned company funded by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, had a prominent exhibit booth. Lars Clasen, CEO of Cruise Saudi, said then in an interview with the Miami Herald that it hopes to have 10 ports up and running by 2030.
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM.