The donation is a notable departure from Zuckerberg's previous stance, especially considering his contentious relationship with Trump during the election campaign. Trump had previously threatened to retaliate against tech giants he perceived as undermining his campaign. The paper also reported that as Republicans prepared to take control of both the White House and Congress, tech CEOs were recalibrating their strategies in anticipation of new regulations that could impact their businesses.
However, Zuckerberg's outreach to Trump was not an isolated incident. The report also noted that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who has been critical of Trump in the past, had recently congratulated him on his victory and expressed optimism about the new administration.
The report said Zuckerberg's efforts to forge a stronger connection with Trump included a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago. During the two-day event, Meta's senior policy executives engaged with key figures in Trump's administration, including his nominee for secretary of state, Senator Marco Rubio.
The tech industry has often found itself at odds with Republican leadership, particularly under Trump's administration, which frequently criticized social media platforms for perceived bias against conservative viewpoints.
In the wake of the 2020 election and the January 6 unrest, the tech entrepreneur banned Donald Trump and some of his supporters on Facebook. In October 2020, both Facebook and Twitter censored the much-talked-about story of Hunter Biden's "laptop from hell."
*banned in Russia for extremism