Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looks on during a brief photo opportunity before a meeting with Republic of Cyprus Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides at the U.S. Department of State on November 18, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit the San Francisco Bay Area this week with the backdrop of uncertainty in Iran and the looming 2020 election.
Pompeo was slated to arrive in the area Sunday, with his trip extending through Wednesday, according to a State Department press release. The secretary was set to meet with an undisclosed list of “technology companies and foreign counterparts from Japan and the Republic of Korea,” according to the press release.
Following remarks to tech-heavy public policy organization, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, at the Commonwealth Club of California, Pompeo will dine with about 15 people at a private meeting Monday, Bloomberg reported. The guest list includes Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison, Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar, venture capitalist Marc Andreesen and Silicon Valley Bank CEO Gregory Becker, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
An Oracle spokesperson declined to comment. The State Department and representatives from the other companies did not immediately return requests for comment or confirmation of Bloomberg’s reporting, but Pompeo’s public schedule confirms a “dinner with U.S. business leaders.”
Tech companies have had a cautious relationship with the Trump administration as employees at companies like Microsoft and Amazon have raised alarms about their leadership’s work to partner with government agencies, especially over defense-related projects. But many executives have tried to maintain friendly relations as scrutiny of the power and size of the largest tech firms has grown in recent years.
According to the schedule, Pompeo will meet with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Palo Alto, California Monday before delivering remarks to students at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Ahead of his visit to the Commonwealth Club, Pompeo will have lunch with Rice and former Secretary of State George Schultz.
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