Stars of President Donald Trump’s cabinet are coming to Beverly Hills for a conference that only a year ago was a nest for “Never Trump” sentiment.
Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr and Special Advisor Chris Liddell will all appear at the Milken Institute’s annual thought leadership conference.
Beginning Sunday, the event will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel — a symbol of Hollywood values that holds events like the Golden Globe Awards, Clive Davis’ Pre-Grammy party and the GLAAD Media Awards.
It’s a venue where many a chicken dinner has been consumed by Mnuchin, a former major Hollywood financier and producer, and Liddell, the former CFO of agency WME-IMG.
Additional Trump staffers attending this year’s event include Brett McGurk, a State Department envoy dedicated to defeating ISIS. McGurk is a leftover from the Obama administration, and will by joined by special advisor Reed Cordish.
Mnuchin will kick off Monday programming in a conversation with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo. The pair will discuss “key forces affecting the global capital markets.”
DeVos will sit through an invite-only luncheon on Monday alongside ex Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Chao, where education will be the focus. She’ll also sit for a solo conversation on the topic opposite Lowell Milken.
The group will rub elbows with prominent and devoted Hillary Clinton supporters like Bad Robot founder and prolific producer J.J. Abrams; and Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google ‘s parent company Alphabet.
Only a year ago on the floor of Milken, the probability of a Trump presidency was a growing source of anxiety — but was largely dismissed.
“At Top Finance Conference, ‘Never Trump’ Wins Support” read a headline from Fortune magazine describing the 2016 conference. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham declared his party had “lost its way” by nominating the former reality star and real estate magnate.
“Donald Trump is itching to be in Moscow doing the deal of a lifetime with his kindred spirit, another would-be tyrant, Vladimir Putin,” former John McCain advisor Niall Ferguson told Fortune at the 2016 event. “Nothing makes my blood chill more than the thought of Trump and Putin doing a deal.”
The Milken Institute Global Conference runs from Sunday, April 30 through Wednesday, May 3.