President Donald Trump is headlining a defense summit at the US Army War College on Wednesday, planning to tout major investments in battlefield technology at a time when the war in Iran has reduced the US supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot and THAAD interceptors.
The gathering in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, is organised by Republican Sen. David McCormick. It has also featured Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; CIA Director John Ratcliffe; and Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump has been a frequent visitor to the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, including last month, when he went to a Mack Trucks facility in Macungie, outside Allentown — hoping to boost Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s reelection chances.
Trump carried Pennsylvania in 2016 and 2024, and McCormick is not up for reelection this cycle, but Republicans are increasingly concerned about the war and persistently high cost of living as well as the president’s low approval ratings as they look to maintain control of Congress during November’s midterm elections.
The White House said the summit is bringing together key leaders in defense and some of the largest global investors to spotlight the importance of national security and identify investment opportunities.
Summit attendees include JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, Blackstone President Jon Gray, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet, General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, SpaceX director Antonio Gracias, and Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer of analytics and artificial intelligence firm Palantir, McCormick’s office said.
Trump spoke at a similar gathering organised by McCormick last year in Pittsburgh that sought to make the city a hot spot for advancement in energy technology and robotics. Then, the senator announced $90 billion in pledged investments in those sectors across Pennsylvania.
This year’s summit began on Tuesday. Before Trump’s arrival, multi-analytics threat detection leader ZeroEyes, which is based in Conshohocken, outside Philadelphia, announced a planned $10 million investment in artificial intelligence and machine learning research and development.
