Actor Robert De Niro, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the guest list Wednesday night at the White House state dinner in honor of visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, according to reports.
They were among the 200 guests invited to the East Room and joined President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. Dinner was house-cured salmon and dry-aged rib-eye steak.
Paul Simon, 82, a favorite of Jill Biden, provided the post-dinner entertainment, singing "Graceland" and "Slip Slidin' Away" shortly after 10 p.m.
Billionaire tech moguls Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos were in attendance, as was JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Bezos also is the owner of The Washington Post. NBC News correspondent Kelly O'Donnell was invited from mainstream media, USA Today reported.
Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi was invited.
Members of President Biden's family were in attendance, except for Hunter Biden, though his daughters Finnegan and Naomi were there. The president's Cabinet also attended.
Naomi Biden wore a loose-fitting pink cherry blossom dress, according to the New York Post, in honor of the cherry trees gifted by Japan in 1912. Japan is gifting 250 new cherry trees to replace those that were removed for structure repairs at the tidal basin.
Four Democrat governors — New York's Kathy Hochul, Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, North Carolina's Roy Cooper and Wisconsin's Tony Evers — were invited.
One Republican senator, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, was on the list. Democrat Sens. Jeff Merkley, of Oregon, and Mazie Hirono, of Hawaii, also were there.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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