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Multiple American CEOs and businesses are pledging large donations to President Donald Trump’s inauguration ahead of his second term.
A new report notes the trend based on efforts to build a positive relationship with Trump as he returns to the White House.
“Some of the planned donations reportedly include $1 million each from Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Facebook parent company Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg. Others include $2 million from Robinhood Markets and $1 million each from both Uber and its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi,” CNBC reported.
“Ford is reportedly coupling its own $1 million donation with a fleet of vehicles,” it continued. “Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin also said he plans to give $1 million to the tax-exempt inaugural committee.”
RSBN previously reported that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, donated $1 million to President Donald Trump’s inaugural fund.
The change from the company’s past with Trump, which included banning his accounts following Jan. 6, 2021, was reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“Zuckerberg’s efforts to strengthen ties—which began years earlier—included a November dinner with Trump on the patio of his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., that focused on general relationship-building,” WSJ wrote.
“The dinner capped a two-day flurry of meetings for Zuckerberg advisers at Mar-a-Lago. Senior Meta policy executives Joel Kaplan and Kevin Martin and Republican strategist Brian Baker met with incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to people familiar with the matter,” it added.
The decision changes Meta’s past policies with other presidents as well. According to Just the News, Meta did not donate to President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 or to Trump’s inauguration in 2017.
Trump’s biggest supporter among media leaders, however, remains Elon Musk. He reportedly donated $250 million to Trump and other GOP candidates ahead of the November election.
Musk has since become a regular at Trump’s events and was recently named a co-leader of DOGE, the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, an effort to reduce government spending and waste.
