Russia, the Trump administration and 'The war on information' are among key topics up for discussion.This year's gathering takes place in Chantilly, Virginia, less than 30 miles from the White House, and goings on in the Oval Office are top of the agenda for the 131 people who've confirmed they're attending.Many top White House figures will be at the four-day event, including the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, National Security Advisor HR McMaster and Assistant to the President Christopher Liddell.This year's event marks the 65th meeting of the infamously-secretive group which has met every year since 1954. At the top of the agenda of the meeting of elite politicians, bankers, business moguls and European royalty is this item – “The Trump Administration: A progress report.”

Bilderberg, which bills itself as a group formed to create dialogue between Europe and North America, has met every year since 1954. Secretive Bilderberg Group to talk Russia, Trump & ‘war on information’Many of the world's most powerful people are gathering for the annual meeting of the mysterious Bilderberg Group this week. Representatives of the Trump administration will be facing off against critics such as Eric Schmidt, the executive director of Google’s parent company, who warned in January that Trump’s administration will do “evil things.”

Some Bilderberg members hold the view that Trump poses a great risk to what the president has criticized as a “globalist” agenda that undermines U.S. national interests and security. Though several journalists were invited to participate in this year’s summit, including London Evening Standard editor George Osborne and Cansu Camlibel, the Washington bureau chief for Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, news outlets are not invited to cover the event. The Bilderberg website listed a range of topics to be discussed in 2017, from “The Trump Administration: A progress report,” to “China,” to “Nuclear Proliferation,” to “Russia in the international order,” to “The direction of the EU,” to “The Trans-Atlantic defense alliance: bullets, bytes and bucks.”

While many have branded the global influence that comes as a result of the Bilderberg Meeting as nothing more than a “conspiracy theory,” the event’s website acknowledges its secretive nature by noting that “participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor any other participant may be revealed.”

The topics discussed at each meeting raise legitimate questions about whether the array of politicians who attend are being given their marching orders for the upcoming year.
The secretive Bilderberg Group meet in Chantilly, Virginia, for its annual conference.