Scoop: Larry Kudlow to interview Trump in front of top CEOs
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When former President Trump auditions Thursday before about 90 top CEOs at the Business Roundtable in Washington, he'll have a friendly face to try to keep him on track: Larry Kudlow, who will interview him at the off-the-record event.
Why it matters: Trump allies hope Kudlow, who was Trump's chief economic adviser in the White House and now touts his former boss on his Fox Business show, can keep the former president focused on the economy.
- If Trump seems palatable, it could make a big impression on the CEOs, some of whom complain that President Biden vilifies business.
Driving the news: White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients will speak at the same meeting on behalf of Biden, who leaves today for the G7 Summit in Italy.
- Zients will be moderated by a CEO.
- The BRT has a practice of inviting both presumptive nominees to its June CEO Quarterly Meeting.
Between the lines: Some Democrats think Trump should be grilled by a neutral interlocutor.
- A source familiar with Trump's interview remarks tells Axios he's likely to focus on his plan "to immediately reduce inflation and roll back anti-business Biden regulations."
New forecast: A model out this morning from The Economist gives Trump a 2-in-3 chance of winning, and Biden a 1-in-3 chance of re-election (34%).
- Four years ago this week, the model gave Biden an 83% chance.
How it works: "Our model is updated every day and combines state and national polls with economic indicators to predict the election results across the country. To work out the likely electoral-vote totals, we run over 10,000 simulations of the election," The Economist says.
Reality check: A 538 forecast out Tuesday called the race tied (Biden wins 52 times in 100 simulations; Trump wins 48 in 100 simulations).
Go deeper: Trump's inflation bomb: How his second-term plans could make it worse
