White House Holds ‘Off The Record’ Meeting With Energy, Finance, Manufacturing CEOs Amid Economic Fallout From Ukraine Invasion

The Biden administration reportedly met with executives from multiple industries on Monday to discuss the continuing fallout on the U.S. economy from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to multiple reports.

Several outlets, including The Hill, and the New York Post, reported that the White House officials and Cabinet Secretaries had met with CEOs from a number of major corporations across multiple industries, especially the energy, food, and financial sectors, in an “off-the-record discussion” on the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and its Western allies.

A White House official told Fox Business that companies attending included oil and gas giants ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon Petroleum; clean energy giants Pattern and Invenergy; Financial titans JPMorgan Chase, Visa, and Bank of America; food and agriculture companies Land O’ Lakes and Cargill, and industrial manufacturers Dow Chemical and U.S. Steel. The panel was reportedly hosted by White House officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese.

The meeting was not on President Joe Biden’s schedule, but the New York Post noted that Biden sometimes greets prominent figures attending White House briefings. The Post also reported that the meeting took place before Biden was scheduled to speak at a quarterly meeting of a Business Roundtable gathering. Biden was expected to discuss the Ukraine crisis with business leaders there, as well as his  “plans to lower costs for working families, create good-paying union jobs, and tackle the climate crisis,” according to his daily schedule.

A readout of the briefing published by the White House confirmed that Biden was briefly in attendance. According to the readout, officials “conveyed the Administration’s commitment to continue imposing heavy costs on Putin to degrade Russia’s war machine and support the people of Ukraine, while taking concrete actions to mitigate the price increases on American consumers caused by Putin’s action. Participants also discussed the need to work together to address Putin’s disruptions to global markets and supply chains, especially for energy and agricultural commodities, and identify alternative sources of supply for key goods.”

Several of the companies participating in the briefing have already been involved in the sanctions campaign and have taken retaliatory action against Russia for invading Ukraine. JPMorgan and Visa previously suspended all financial operations in Russia earlier this month, as The Daily Wire reported. ExxonMobil closed down its last remaining project in Russia, leaving behind some $4 billion in assets, as Reuters reported, joining other oil and gas giants like BP and Shell in pulling out of the Russian energy sector.

The briefing also comes as inflation soared to another record high in February. The Consumer Price Index reported a 7.9% year-over-year increase, the largest annual increase in 40 years. Food and energy prices led the way, with food inflation rising 7.9% and energy rising 25.6%, especially a 38.0% increase in gasoline. The Producer Price Index, which tracks wholesale prices for producers, hit another record high of 10% year-over-year, also the largest increase in 40 years. Biden has tried to place blame on Russia for the inflation spike, dubbing it “Putin’s Price Hike,” but inflation and oil prices have been rising since before the invasion.