By Gram Slattery, David Shepardson and Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Republican

presidential candidate Donald Trump and Jeff Zients, U.S.

President Joe Biden's White House chief of staff, on Thursday

met with top American business leaders in Washington as they

seek to curry favor with corporate America months ahead of

elections, two sources said.

Trump was interviewed by conservative commentator Larry

Kudlow, who served as a key economic adviser during Trump's 2017

to 2021 term, the sources said. JP Morgan Chase CEO

Jamie Dimon was seen leaving the building after the meeting.

The meeting with the Business Roundtable, which counts

200 CEOs as members, focused on the economy, other sources said

before it started.

But the dualing Thursday pitches show both candidates are

increasingly focused on wooing deep pocketed and powerful

corporate CEOs as the election draws near. In a May

Reuters/Ipsos poll, 44% of registered voters said they believed

Trump had a better plan for the economy compared with 33% in

support of Biden's economic strategy.

The Biden campaign's message was clear Thursday morning: In

a statement showcasing economic improvements under the

Democratic president, the campaign criticized Trump's economic

proposals, and his past.

"Donald Trump couldn't run a lemonade stand, let alone

our country. He is a fraud, a crook, and a failed businessman

and president who left America in economic ruin," campaign

spokesperson James Singer said before the meeting.

Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore said after the

meeting the former president "had a very pro-business message"

that emphasized tax cuts for businesses and reducing regulation.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES, TAXES

Biden and Trump, who are locked in a tight race five months

before the Nov. 5 election, disagree on a number of major

economic issues.

Biden has made protecting the environment a core part of his

economic plans. His administration has created a series of

incentives for the purchase and use of electric vehicles, and in

January his administration paused approvals for applications to

export liquefied natural gas from new projects.

Trump, while at times light on specifics, has attacked

measures meant to hasten the transition of the U.S. economy away

from fossil fuels and has repeatedly claimed that electric

vehicles do not work.

While in office, Trump cut the top corporate tax rate from

35% to 21%. Biden has proposed increasing the top rate for large

corporations to 28%, below historic levels, but above the

current figure.

BUSINESS TITANS RETURN TO TRUMP

Both men have broadly used tariffs to protect U.S. industry.

Trump has proposed putting a 10% duty on all imports.

"President Trump's America First economic program will

deliver middle class tax cuts, record-setting regulation cuts,

fair trade, abundant energy, low inflation, better wages and a

restoration of the rule of law in America," said Trump campaign

spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.

While in Washington, Trump is also slated to speak to

Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives at

locations close to the U.S. Capitol. Those meetings are expected

to focus on the policy priorities of a potential second Trump

term.

The Business Roundtable routinely asks major party

presidential candidates to address the group during election

years. Even so, Trump's appearance underlines how some in the

business community have warmed to the former president after

many companies distanced themselves from him and his supporters

following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In the weeks after the attack, many major corporations said

they would no longer donate to federal politicians who denied

the legitimacy of the 2020 vote, which Biden won, though many

have since appeared to quietly walk back that pledge.

Business titans like Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of

Blackstone, have previously forsaken Trump, only to announce in

this election cycle that they would support him after he easily

dispatched his rivals in the Republican presidential nominating

contest earlier this year.