Friday, December 13, 2024 - Mark Zuckerberg's
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it has donated $1
million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund.
It appears to be the latest attempt by the Meta boss to build a closer
relationship with the incoming president.
The donation comes just weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met
with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed the offering Thursday, Dec. 12.
Stephen Miller, who has been appointed deputy chief of staff for Trump’s
second term, has said that Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to
support Trump’s economic plans.
The tech CEO has been seeking to change his company’s perception on the
right following a rocky relationship with Trump.
Trump was kicked off Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the
U.S. Capitol. The company restored his account in early 2023.
During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for
president but has voiced a more positive stance toward Trump.
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg praised Trump’s response to his first
ass@ssination attempt.
Still, Trump had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly during the
campaign.
In July, he posted a message on his own social network Truth Social
threatening to send election fraudsters to prison in part by citing a nickname
he used for the Meta CEO. “ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!” Trump wrote.
Corporations have traditionally made up a large share of donors to
presidential inaugurals, with an exception in 2009, when then-President-elect
Barack Obama refused to accept corporate donations. He reversed course for his
second inaugural in 2013.
Facebook did not donate to either Biden's 2021 inaugural or Trump’s 2017
inaugural.
Google donated $285,000 each to Trump first inaugural and Biden’s
inaugural.
Inaugural committees are required to disclose the source of their fundraising, but not how they spend the money.
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