Meta has donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund amid CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s push to curry favor with the president-elect greater than a month earlier than he takes workplace.
The $1.6-trillion proprietor of Fb and Instagram confirmed the donation to The Publish following a report late on Wednesday by The Wall Avenue Journal indicating that Zuckerberg’s firm, which has for probably the most half stayed out of presidential races, departed from previous apply.
A Meta spokesperson declined to remark additional.
Final month, Zuckerberg paid a go to to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.
The 2 males reportedly had dinner — throughout which Trump was gifted a pair of Ray Ban Good Glasses by the tech mogul.
Earlier than the dinner, Zuckerberg’s deputies knowledgeable Trump aides that Meta deliberate to make the $1 million donation to the inaugural fund, in response to the Journal.
Meta didn’t donate to Trump’s inaugural fund in 2017 — nor did it give to outgoing President Joe Biden’s inaugural fund 4 years later, public data cited by the Journal present.
Zuckerberg, whose social media platforms banned the president-elect within the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 rioting on the US Capitol, has sought to rehabilitation his relationship with Trump in latest months by holding a minimum of two non-public telephone conversations over the summer time.
The Fb founder additionally publicly praised Trump following the July assassination try throughout which the president-elect was seen pumping his fist in defiance with blood dripping down his face — a response that Zuckerberg known as “badass.”
The hotter ties are a research in distinction in comparison with the earlier election cycle, when Trump floated the thought of imprisoning Zuckerberg after he and his spouse, Priscilla Chan, donated round $400 million to nonprofits designed to facilitate voting through the pandemic.
Trump and his supporters accused the Meta boss of utilizing “Zuckerbucks” to assist Democrats, however the tech mogul denied this.
Zuckerberg and Chan have sought to make inroads with Republicans by hiring GOP strategist Brian Baker, who was given the duty of explaining the $400 million donation in 2020.
In August, Zuckerberg instructed the Home Judiciary Committee in a letter that it was improper for the Biden administration to strain Fb to censor COVID-19-related content material.
Zuckerberg additionally pledged to GOP lawmakers that he wouldn’t make further donations to spice up election infrastructure.
“My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role,” Zuckerberg wrote.
The Publish has sought remark from the Trump transition staff.
Zuckerberg is one in every of a number of tech executives who need to make good with Trump simply weeks earlier than he begins his second time period.
Final week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the proprietor of the Washington Publish, stated he was “very optimistic” a few second Trump time period due to the incoming president’s pro-business, anti-regulation agenda.
Bezos, who has additionally been a Trump foil, blocked his newspaper’s editorial board from publishing an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris lower than two weeks earlier than the election — sparking a number of resignations on the newspaper in addition to a wave of subscriber cancellations.
