Persuasive Business Leaders Parade Through White House -br By KATE KELLYAPRIL 29, 2017br WASHINGTON — In a meeting at the White House with business leaders two weeks into his presidency,br Donald J. Trump turned to Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase.br And while some Democrats and other critics complain business leaders are being granted unfettered access to Mr. Trump — whobr ran as a businessman planning to apply executive principles to Washington’s problems — the White House is unapologetic.br Nearly 300 executives have visited the White House this year, according to a New York Times tabulation, an open-door policybr that is a sharp break with the Obama administration and puts corporate chieftains on par with senior lawmakers in the pecking order of who has influence in Washington.br Frank and occasionally confrontational, the conversations have become a defining feature of Mr. Trump’s young presidency, inspiring policy debatesbr and in some instances 180-degree shifts by the president, according to White House officials and executives who have participated in the discussions.br Since the White House “listening groups” began, Mr. Cordish said, they’ve been barraged with ideas from executivesbr and trade groups for deregulation, job creation and the streamlining of services.br That idea, which she later repeated directly to the president at the White House, was integral to a meetingbr Mr. Trump called with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and several multinational companies.