WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Bilderberg group held its 72nd meeting over a weekend at the Salamander Hotel in Washington, D.C., bringing together prime ministers, military leaders, technology billionaires, and heads of major investment firms. A security cordon was established around the hotel, and no press oversight was allowed at the conference.

The meeting's agenda included sessions titled "Trans-Atlantic Defence-Industrial Relationship," "Future of Warfare," and "Arctic Security." The group was established in the 1950s and was founded by British and American intelligence agencies. It has been associated with NATO since its founding.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attended the conference. U.S. officials in attendance included Doug Burgum, former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Jason Smith, and Dan Driscoll. President Donald Trump has threatened multiple times to withdraw the United States from NATO.

Three intelligence directors attended the meeting, including Blaise Metreweli, head of MI6. Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, was also present.

Eric Schmidt, former head of Google, attended the conference, along with Brian Schimpf, co-founder and CEO of Anduril Industries, and Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir. Schimpf and Karp have collaborated on a project for the Trump administration known as the Golden Dome project. Earlier this year, Schmidt said that future wars will be defined by unmanned weapons and will involve swarms of drones operated remotely and increasingly automated with AI targeting. The CEOs of KKR and Lazard attended, as did the chief executive of Pfizer.

Vivian Motzfeldt, former Greenlandic foreign minister and former speaker of Greenland's parliament, attended the conference, becoming the first Greenlander to do so.

Peter Thiel, a member of the Bilderberg group's steering committee since 2008, did not attend the meeting. Thiel helped establish Palantir with funding from the CIA. Both Thiel and Schmidt largely fund Washington-based Bilderberg meetings through the American Friends of Bilderberg Inc.