Every year, the world's richest and most powerful business executives, bankers, media heads and politicians sit down in some luxurious and heavily guarded venue, and discuss how to shape the world in a way that maximizes profits for all involved, while perpetuating a status quo that has been highly beneficial for a select few, even if it means the ongoing destruction of the middle class. We are talking, of course, about the annual, and always secretive, Bilderberg meeting.

And just like last year's meeting in Dresden, the primary topic on the agenda of this year's 65th Bilderberg Meeting which starts today and ends on Sunday, is one: Donald Trump.

Ironically, this year "the storm around Donald Trump" as the SCMP puts it, is not half way around the world, but just a few miles west of the White House, in a conference centre in Chantilly, Virginia, where the embattled president will be getting his end-of-term grades from the people whose opinion actually matters: some 130 participating "Bilderbergs".

The secretive three-day summit of the political and economic elite kicks off Thursday in heavily guarded seclusion at the Westfields Marriot, a luxury hotel a short distance from the Oval Office.

As of Wednesday, the hotel was already on lockdown and an army of landscapers have been busy planting fir trees around the perimeter, to try protect "coy billionaires and bashful bank bosses" from prying lenses and/or projectiles. Perched ominously at the top of the conference agenda this year are these words: “The Trump Administration: A progress report”.

So is the president going to be put in detention for tweeting in class? Held back a year? Or told to empty his locker and leave? If ever there’s a place where a president could hear the words “you’re fired!”, it’s Bilderberg.

Sarcasm aside, the White House was taking no chances, sending along some big hitters from Team Trump to defend their boss: national security adviser, HR McMaster; the commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross; and Trump’s new strategist, Chris Liddell (curiously, neither Gary Cohn nor Steven Mnuchin will be there although the controversial new Chairman of Goldman Sachs International, Jose Barroso will be present). Could Trump himself show up to receive his report card in person: we are confident he will tweet all about it... which is probably why he will never be invited.

Stil, none other than Henry Kissinger, the gravel-throated kingpin of Bilderberg, visited the White House a few weeks ago to discuss “Russia and other things”, and certainly, the Bilderberg conference would be the perfect opportunity for the most powerful man in the world to discuss important global issues with Trump.

Sarcasm aside, what are among the "Trump agenda" items to be discussed? The publicly list is as follows:

The Trump Administration: A progress report

Trans-Atlantic relations: options and scenarios

The Trans-Atlantic defence alliance: bullets, bytes and bucks

The direction of the EU

Can globalisation be slowed down?

Jobs, income and unrealised expectations

The war on information

Why is populism growing?

Russia in the international order

The Near East

Nuclear proliferation

China

Current events

The US president’s extraordinary chiding of NATO leaders in Brussels is sure to be first and foremost on the Bilderberg discussing panel. The Bilderbergers have summoned the head of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, to give feedback. Stoltenberg will be leading the snappily titled session on “The Transatlantic defence alliance: bullets, bytes and bucks”. He’ll be joined by the Dutch minister of defence and a clutch of senior European politicians and party leaders, all hoping to reset the traumatised transatlantic relationship after Trump’s galumphing visit.

As the Guardian puts it, the guest list for this year’s conference is a veritable “covfefe” of big-hitters from geopolitics, from the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, to the king of Holland, but perhaps the most significant name on the list is Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the US.

According to the meeting’s agenda, “China” will also be discussed at a summit attended by Cui, the US commerce secretary, the US national security adviser, two US senators, the governor of Virginia, two former CIA chiefs and any number of giant US investors in China, including the heads of the financial services firms the Carlyle Group and KKR. And for good reason: as last night's PMI numbers showed, the Chinese economy - the global growth dynamo - is finally contracting. If China goes, the rest of the world will follow.

Additionally, the boss of Google Eric Schmidt, who warned in January that Trump’s administration will do “evil things”, is expected to attend, too. The executive chairman of Alphabet, Google’s holding company, has just come back from a trip to Beijing, where he was overseeing Google AI’s latest game of Go against humans. He declared it “a pleasure to be back in China, a country that I admire a great deal”. It’s possible three days spent chatting to the Chinese ambassador could even be good for business.

Several journalists are participating in this year’s forum, including London Evening Standard editor George Osborne and Cansu Camlibel, the Washington bureau chief for Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper. But per convention, news outlets are not invited to cover the event.

“There is no desired outcome, no minutes are taken and no report is written,” the group stated. “Furthermore, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.”

Ex-deputy secretary of state William Burns and former deputy assistant secretary of defence Elaine Bunn, both Obama-era officials, will also attend. Burns, the current president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has warned that Trump “risks hollowing out the ideas, initiative and institutions on which US leadership and international order rest.”

With one of the agenda items titled simply enough "can globalisation be slowed down?" it is no surprise that anti-globalisation protesters have already descended on the location of the meeting.

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Below is a full list of this year's participants:

CHAIRMAN

Castries, Henri de (FRA), Former Chairman and CEO, AXA; President of Institut Montaigne



PARTICIPANTS

Achleitner, Paul M. (DEU), Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Bank AG

Adonis, Andrew (GBR), Chair, National Infrastructure Commission

Agius, Marcus (GBR), Chairman, PA Consulting Group

Akyol, Mustafa (TUR), Senior Visiting Fellow, Freedom Project at Wellesley College

Alstadheim, Kjetil B. (NOR), Political Editor, Dagens Næringsliv

Altman, Roger C. (USA), Founder and Senior Chairman, Evercore

Arnaut, José Luis (PRT), Managing Partner, CMS Rui Pena & Arnaut

Barroso, José M. Durão (PRT), Chairman, Goldman Sachs International

Bäte, Oliver (DEU), CEO, Allianz SE

Baumann, Werner (DEU), Chairman, Bayer AG

Baverez, Nicolas (FRA), Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Benko, René (AUT), Founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board, SIGNA Holding GmbH

Berner, Anne-Catherine (FIN), Minister of Transport and Communications

Botín, Ana P. (ESP), Executive Chairman, Banco Santander

Brandtzæg, Svein Richard (NOR), President and CEO, Norsk Hydro ASA

Brennan, John O. (USA), Senior Advisor, Kissinger Associates Inc.

Bsirske, Frank (DEU), Chairman, United Services Union

Buberl, Thomas (FRA), CEO, AXA

Bunn, M. Elaine (USA), Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense

Burns, William J. (USA), President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Çakiroglu, Levent (TUR), CEO, Koç Holding A.S.

Çamlibel, Cansu (TUR), Washington DC Bureau Chief, Hürriyet Newspaper

Cebrián, Juan Luis (ESP), Executive Chairman, PRISA and El País

Clemet, Kristin (NOR), CEO, Civita

Cohen, David S. (USA), Former Deputy Director, CIA

Collison, Patrick (USA), CEO, Stripe

Cotton, Tom (USA), Senator

Cui, Tiankai (CHN), Ambassador to the United States

Döpfner, Mathias (DEU), CEO, Axel Springer SE

Elkann, John (ITA), Chairman, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Enders, Thomas (DEU), CEO, Airbus SE

Federspiel, Ulrik (DNK), Group Executive, Haldor Topsøe Holding A/S

Ferguson, Jr., Roger W. (USA), President and CEO, TIAA

Ferguson, Niall (USA), Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Gianotti, Fabiola (ITA), Director General, CERN

Gozi, Sandro (ITA), State Secretary for European Affairs

Graham, Lindsey (USA), Senator

Greenberg, Evan G. (USA), Chairman and CEO, Chubb Group

Griffin, Kenneth (USA), Founder and CEO, Citadel Investment Group, LLC

Gruber, Lilli (ITA), Editor-in-Chief and Anchor "Otto e mezzo", La7 TV

Guindos, Luis de (ESP), Minister of Economy, Industry and Competiveness

Haines, Avril D. (USA), Former Deputy National Security Advisor

Halberstadt, Victor (NLD), Professor of Economics, Leiden University

Hamers, Ralph (NLD), Chairman, ING Group

Hedegaard, Connie (DNK), Chair, KR Foundation

Hennis-Plasschaert, Jeanine (NLD), Minister of Defence, The Netherlands

Hobson, Mellody (USA), President, Ariel Investments LLC

Hoffman, Reid (USA), Co-Founder, LinkedIn and Partner, Greylock

Houghton, Nicholas (GBR), Former Chief of Defence

Ischinger, Wolfgang (INT), Chairman, Munich Security Conference

Jacobs, Kenneth M. (USA), Chairman and CEO, Lazard

Johnson, James A. (USA), Chairman, Johnson Capital Partners

Jordan, Jr., Vernon E. (USA), Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC

Karp, Alex (USA), CEO, Palantir Technologies

Kengeter, Carsten (DEU), CEO, Deutsche Börse AG

Kissinger, Henry A. (USA), Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc.

Klatten, Susanne (DEU), Managing Director, SKion GmbH

Kleinfeld, Klaus (USA), Former Chairman and CEO, Arconic

Knot, Klaas H.W. (NLD), President, De Nederlandsche Bank

Koç, Ömer M. (TUR), Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.

Kotkin, Stephen (USA), Professor in History and International Affairs, Princeton University

Kravis, Henry R. (USA), Co-Chairman and Co-CEO, KKR

Kravis, Marie-Josée (USA), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Kudelski, André (CHE), Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group

Lagarde, Christine (INT), Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

Lenglet, François (FRA), Chief Economics Commentator, France 2

Leysen, Thomas (BEL), Chairman, KBC Group

Liddell, Christopher (USA), Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives

Lööf, Annie (SWE), Party Leader, Centre Party

Mathews, Jessica T. (USA), Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

McAuliffe, Terence (USA), Governor of Virginia

McKay, David I. (CAN), President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada

McMaster, H.R. (USA), National Security Advisor

Micklethwait, John (INT), Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg LP

Minton Beddoes, Zanny (INT), Editor-in-Chief, The Economist

Molinari, Maurizio (ITA), Editor-in-Chief, La Stampa

Monaco, Lisa (USA), Former Homeland Security Officer

Morneau, Bill (CAN), Minister of Finance

Mundie, Craig J. (USA), President, Mundie & Associates

Murtagh, Gene M. (IRL), CEO, Kingspan Group plc

Netherlands, H.M. the King of the (NLD)

Noonan, Peggy (USA), Author and Columnist, The Wall Street Journal

O'Leary, Michael (IRL), CEO, Ryanair D.A.C.

Osborne, George (GBR), Editor, London Evening Standard

Papahelas, Alexis (GRC), Executive Editor, Kathimerini Newspaper

Papalexopoulos, Dimitri (GRC), CEO, Titan Cement Co.

Petraeus, David H. (USA), Chairman, KKR Global Institute

Pind, Søren (DNK), Minister for Higher Education and Science

Puga, Benoît (FRA), Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor and Chancellor of the National Order of Merit

Rachman, Gideon (GBR), Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, The Financial Times

Reisman, Heather M. (CAN), Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.

Rivera Díaz, Albert (ESP), President, Ciudadanos Party

Rosén, Johanna (SWE), Professor in Materials Physics, Linköping University

Ross, Wilbur L. (USA), Secretary of Commerce

Rubenstein, David M. (USA), Co-Founder and Co-CEO, The Carlyle Group

Rubin, Robert E. (USA), Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations and Former Treasury Secretary

Ruoff, Susanne (CHE), CEO, Swiss Post

Rutten, Gwendolyn (BEL), Chair, Open VLD

Sabia, Michael (CAN), CEO, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Sawers, John (GBR), Chairman and Partner, Macro Advisory Partners

Schadlow, Nadia (USA), Deputy Assistant to the President, National Security Council

Schmidt, Eric E. (USA), Executive Chairman, Alphabet Inc.

Schneider-Ammann, Johann N. (CHE), Federal Councillor, Swiss Confederation

Scholten, Rudolf (AUT), President, Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue

Severgnini, Beppe (ITA), Editor-in-Chief, 7-Corriere della Sera

Sikorski, Radoslaw (POL), Senior Fellow, Harvard University

Slat, Boyan (NLD), CEO and Founder, The Ocean Cleanup

Spahn, Jens (DEU), Parliamentary State Secretary and Federal Ministry of Finance

Stephenson, Randall L. (USA), Chairman and CEO, AT&T

Stern, Andrew (USA), President Emeritus, SEIU and Senior Fellow, Economic Security Project

Stoltenberg, Jens (INT), Secretary General, NATO

Summers, Lawrence H. (USA), Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University

Tertrais, Bruno (FRA), Deputy Director, Fondation pour la recherche stratégique

Thiel, Peter (USA), President, Thiel Capital

Topsøe, Jakob Haldor (DNK), Chairman, Haldor Topsøe Holding A/S

Ülgen, Sinan (TUR), Founding and Partner, Istanbul Economics

Vance, J.D. (USA), Author and Partner, Mithril

Wahlroos, Björn (FIN), Chairman, Sampo Group, Nordea Bank, UPM-Kymmene Corporation

Wallenberg, Marcus (SWE), Chairman, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB

Walter, Amy (USA), Editor, The Cook Political Report

Weston, Galen G. (CAN), CEO and Executive Chairman, Loblaw Companies Ltd and George Weston Companies

White, Sharon (GBR), Chief Executive, Ofcom

Wieseltier, Leon (USA), Isaiah Berlin Senior Fellow in Culture and Policy, The Brookings Institution

Wolf, Martin H. (INT), Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times

Wolfensohn, James D. (USA), Chairman and CEO, Wolfensohn & Company

Wunsch, Pierre (BEL), Vice-Governor, National Bank of Belgium

Zeiler, Gerhard (AUT), President, Turner International

Zients, Jeffrey D. (USA), Former Director, National Economic Council

Zoellick, Robert B. (USA), Non-Executive Chairman, AllianceBernstein L.P.

Natrually, the secretive nature of the group has given birth to conspiracy theories. Some have claimed that the Bilderberg is a group of rich and powerful kingmakers seeking to impose a one world government. Whether that is true remains in the eye of the beholder, however one thing is clear: as the graph below shows, the members are connected to virtually every important and relevant organization, media outlet, company and political entity in the world.