Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday, becoming yet another tech leader attempting to court the President-elect.
Of course, even before the all-decisive Election Night on November 5th, top executives from some of America’s largest tech companies had been reaching out to Trump – just in case.
Trump chatted to Google CEO Sundar Pichai (with Elon Musk listening in), Apple’s boss Tim Cook, and Amazon’s chief executive Andy Jassy. Now, Zuckerberg has paid him a visit, too, The New York Times was first to report.
Meta soon confirmed that the private dinner occurred, telling The Business Insider that the transition period is important “for the future of American Innovation” and that the incoming administration actually invited Zuckerberg to come over.
Trump aggressively attacked Zuckerberg during the election campaign and earlier this year threatened to jail the tech billionaire if elected.
However, the flamboyant President-elect stopped berating Meta’s boss when Zuckerberg publicly pledged to remain neutral in the election race and did not endorse a candidate at all. Plus, Meta’s platforms have now for months limited political content.
Finally, probably realizing that what he and the world just saw was a deal clincher, Zuckerberg praised Trump’s defiant behavior right after he was shot at in July by a would-be assassin in Pennsylvania.
“Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I've ever seen in my life,” Zuckerberg said and then said on Threads he was “praying” for Trump’s quick recovery.
View on Threads
Trump and Zuckerberg met at least twice during the Republican’s first term. Still, the tech leaders who largely ignored Trump in 2016 are now trying to avoid making the same mistake – probably because there’s so much more at stake.
Most big tech companies, including Meta, are currently facing antitrust investigations from the Federal Trade Commission. Naturally, they’re willing to improve relations between Silicon Valley and the new faces in Washington so that the danger to their ways of doing business subsides.
In mid-November, a federal judge ruled that the lawsuit accusing Meta of holding an illegal monopoly over social media can proceed to trial. The case is expected to drag into Trump’s upcoming term.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are markedmarked