President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak Wednesday at a defense technology summit at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where organizers say he will highlight major investments in battlefield technology at a moment when the war in Iran has depleted U.S. stocks of key munitions.
Why the summit matters
The gathering, organized by Republican Sen. David McCormick, brings together senior national security leaders, Pentagon officials and executives from major defense and finance firms to spotlight national security priorities and investment opportunities. Officials noted the United States has seen reductions in inventories of Tomahawk cruise missiles and the Patriot and THAAD interceptors during the Iran war — context that frames the summit’s focus on accelerating battlefield-capable technologies and industrial capacity.
Who’s attending
- Defense and national security figures: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine (chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Ambassador Mike Waltz.
- Major corporate and financial leaders: Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan), Jon Gray (Blackstone), Jim Taiclet (Lockheed Martin), Phebe Novakovic (General Dynamics), Kelly Ortberg (Boeing), Antonio Gracias (SpaceX director), and Shyam Sankar (Palantir CTO).
Organizers said the White House framed the conference as a venue to connect national security priorities with global investors able to scale technologies that could bolster U.S. defense capabilities.
| Attendee | Role / Company |
|---|---|
| Jamie Dimon | JPMorgan |
| Jon Gray | Blackstone |
| Jim Taiclet | Lockheed Martin CEO |
| Phebe Novakovic | General Dynamics CEO |
| Kelly Ortberg | Boeing CEO |
| Antonio Gracias | SpaceX director |
| Shyam Sankar | Palantir CTO |
Political context and past initiatives
The summit comes as Republicans contend with voter concerns about the Iran war and the persistently high cost of living, factors that could affect control of Congress in November’s midterm elections. President Trump has made multiple visits to Pennsylvania — a competitive state he carried in 2016 and 2024 — including recent stops aimed at bolstering Republican candidates.
This event follows a similar conference organized by McCormick last year in Pittsburgh that aimed to promote energy technology and robotics investment in the state; at that gathering, McCormick announced $90 billion in pledged investments in those sectors across Pennsylvania.
Summit organizers said the two-day event opened Tuesday and includes a mix of defense officials, intelligence leaders and corporate investors intended to identify ways to strengthen both technological capability and the industrial base that supports it.
