World and business leaders met in Washington, D.C. for the past few days for "informal discussions" about geopolitical realignments, Russia, Ukraine, "disruption of the global financial system," "post pandemic health" and disinformation, among other subjects - all off the record.
The annual invite-only Bilderberg Meeting, which traces its roots to a postwar concern about insufficient cross-Atlantic cooperation, publishes a list of its participants and discussion topics, but bans "reporting journalists" from attending "to encourage the highest level of openness and dialogue."
Its steering committee, which funds the meetings, includes failed Georgia gubernatorial Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, World Economic Forum President Borge Brende and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, but also venture capitalist and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, a strong supporter of former President Trump.