Meta donated $1 million to the inauguration fund of Donald Trump, who was elected the new president of the United States. According to The Wall Street Journal, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg informed Trump’s inauguration committee of his donation plans before a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in November.
According to the report, before the dinner, Zuckerberg introduced Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses and presented a pair to Trump. However, Zuckerberg’s advisors also met with names such as Susie Wiles, who is among the new staff of the White House.
This donation is seen as a significant departure from Zuckerberg’s distance from politics. Zuckerberg congratulated Trump on his election victory, but did not openly support any candidate in the 2020 elections. While Meta spokesmen underlined that Zuckerberg did not support any candidate for the 2024 elections, they rejected the claims that, unlike Trump, Zuckerberg told him that he would not vote for Democrats. It is also claimed that Trump called Zuckerberg after the assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania and said that he found his reaction “brave”.
However, Zuckerberg’s increasing interest in Trump is noteworthy. Trump has harshly criticized Zuckerberg in the past and argued that Zuckerberg should be imprisoned due to allegations that Facebook interfered with the 2020 elections. Facebook’s ban of Trump’s account after the events of January 6 further tense the relationship between the two names.
The dinner between Zuckerberg and Trump and the donation made by Meta are considered signals of softening despite the tense relationship between them. Although Trump has frequently targeted Zuckerberg in the past, these latest developments indicate that a more harmonious basis for dialogue may be formed between the two parties.
Meta aims to increase its influence between politics and technology
This move by Meta is interpreted as part of the company’s steps to increase its influence in the technology and political arena. On the other hand, it remains a matter of curiosity what kind of impact such donations will have in the long term and how the relationship between Trump and Meta will be shaped.