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| President Donald Trump sits in between Princess Kate and King Charles. WPA Pool/Getty Images |
When Donald Trump attended a glittering state dinner at Windsor Castle this week, the guest list and seating chart told its own story. From tech titans and billionaires to royals and unexpected celebrity pairings, the night mixed glamour, politics, and subtle power plays.
Trump’s Big Night at Windsor
President Donald Trump’s visit to the UK included one of the most anticipated moments of his trip: a lavish state banquet hosted at Windsor Castle. The event wasn’t just about royal pageantry. It was also a chance for Trump to showcase his global influence alongside some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful figures.
Sitting between King Charles and Princess Kate, Trump looked right at home in the spotlight. For a leader who thrives on celebrity, few seats could have been better. Kate Middleton, often described as the star of the British royal family, was arguably the most coveted companion at the table.
A Seating Chart Full of Signals
The seating arrangements revealed just as much as the speeches and handshakes. The mix of royals, CEOs, financiers, and political figures highlighted Trump’s use of high-profile dinners as soft power tools, blending diplomacy with business.
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Tiffany Trump and Tim Cook: Perhaps the most surprising pairing. Trump’s youngest daughter entered the banquet alongside the Apple CEO. While Tiffany has been more socialite than policymaker, Cook is known for skillfully managing his relationship with Trump in both the Obama and Trump eras.
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Melania Trump between Camilla and Prince William: A placement that balanced glamour with tradition.
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Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO: Despite being one of the most important tech leaders in the world, Altman was seated far from the main action. Compared to golfers and royals, he seemed oddly sidelined.
The Billionaire Banquet
The dinner gathered hundreds of billions in net worth at one table, even without Elon Musk or Larry Ellison present.
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Jensen Huang (Nvidia CEO) was the wealthiest guest, worth around $150 billion, making him the ninth richest person in the world. His presence underscored Nvidia’s growing influence, especially after announcing a major UK investment just days earlier.
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Steve Schwarzman (Blackstone CEO) brought his wealth and Anglophile flair — though not all locals in Hampshire are thrilled with his estate renovations.
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Marc Benioff (Salesforce CEO), absent from the White House’s recent tech summit, appeared here as Salesforce ramps up its defense and national security division.
The sheer concentration of money, power, and influence in the Windsor banquet hall underscored how business diplomacy now plays as central a role as political alliances.
Jensen Huang: The Unexpected “Middler”
While Trump and the royals commanded attention at the head of the table, Jensen Huang played a quieter but equally important role.
Seated between a British political science professor and Rene Haas of ARM Holdings, Huang wasn’t placed among the flashiest guests — but his reputation for charm and wit made him the perfect person to keep conversations flowing.
As one observer put it, Huang is “a great middler” — the kind of guest who livens up the less glamorous corners of the table.
Awkward Encounters and Political Subtext
Not everyone’s placement was about harmony. The seating also highlighted underlying tensions:
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Rupert Murdoch was present, even as Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal looms in the background. Though they weren’t seated together, the eye contact alone must have been frosty.
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The presence of defense-oriented CEOs like Benioff reinforced how Trump continues to use business leaders as proxies in global diplomacy.
Tiffany Trump’s Unexpected Spotlight
Tiffany Trump stood out, paired with Tim Cook while her husband walked alongside Princess Kate. Known for summers on yachts and a pop single released in her teens, Tiffany isn’t usually part of global diplomacy — but here, she was thrust into the spotlight.
Cook, meanwhile, has a reputation for playing the long game with Trump, balancing criticism with cooperation. Their pairing was a reminder that every seat at a state dinner carries symbolic weight.
Who Would You Want to Sit Beside?
For journalists and observers alike, part of the fun is imagining who they’d choose to sit with:
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James Chalmers, the “Keeper of the Privy Purse,” who controls the royal family’s finances, could offer insights into the monarchy’s money.
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The MI5 director, seated across from some tech executives, likely fielded more subtle questions about espionage than about “Slow Horses” — but wouldn’t that be fun?
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And for those still captivated by royalty, Princess Kate remains the ultimate dinner companion.
A Banquet That Blends Diplomacy and Business
The Windsor Castle dinner wasn’t just a social event. It was a showcase of how Trump merges celebrity, politics, and business into one spectacle. While royals provided the glamour, CEOs and billionaires provided the muscle behind global influence.
Trump, who thrives on staging power as performance, ensured that his seat — and the entire seating chart — sent a clear message: he remains at the center of global drama, with the world’s wealth and power within reach.
