Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund in latest step to mend relationship
By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN
New York (CNN) — Meta has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, the company confirmed to CNN.
The news comes two weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump privately at Mar-a-Lago. The donation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
CNN has reported that Zuckerberg is angling for a more active role in the incoming administration, which could involve shaping tech policy. It’s a major reversal from nearly four years ago when Meta banned Trump from its platforms after the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
Leading up to the election, Zuckerberg had been gradually showing a closer affinity with Trump. In an interview over the summer, the Facebook founder said Trump’s reaction to a July assassination attempt was “badass.”
“Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said during an interview with “The Circuit” podcast at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
A number of top executives at some of America’s largest tech companies — including Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Amazon’s Andy Jassy — had been seeking out Trump before Election Day in November, looking to get an audience with the then-presidential candidate during a tightly contested race.
For his part, Trump has appeared to enjoy his warming relationship with tech titans. He has flaunted his private conversations with them in interviews and appearances and now heaps praise on companies he once blamed for his 2020 electoral defeat, which had unleashed years of Republican-led attacks on tech companies.
As recently as March, Trump labeled Facebook an “enemy of the people” in an interview with CNBC, leading shares in Meta, its parent company, to fall by more than 4% on the day. Trump has also previously threatened to imprison “election fraudsters,” including Zuckerberg, whom he seemed to reference in a July post on his Truth Social platform.
This story has been updated with additional reporting and context.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Jon Passantino contributed reporting.
