Meta Platforms, the parent of Facebook, shocked everyone when it contributed $1 million to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund. That surprising move marked a shift in the relationship between the Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and the former president with whom he had been at odds since the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
Meta confirmed that donation and said it was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The donation occurred just weeks after Zuckerberg met privately with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Sources familiar with the matter claim that Zuckerberg is seeking an even tighter relationship with the incoming administration as a means of influencing US tech policy. That is a reversal from 2021 when Meta banned Trump from its platforms following the Capitol riot.
In addition to the huge gift, Zuckerberg appears to have demoed the latest tech that Meta has been working on with Trump in the meeting, which includes the newest collaboration in eyewear with Ray-Ban, the eyewear company. He even handed him a pair of cutting-edge glasses, which form part of Meta’s incursion into the “metaverse” and augmented reality.
The move into Trump’s inauguration fundraising marked a new chapter for the tech mogul in an attempt to engage with the incoming administration, despite previous tension. This also raises the question of how Zuckerberg’s relationship with Trump might influence future policies on social media regulation, content moderation, and broader tech issues.
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