(Bloomberg) – Meta Platforms Inc. donated $1 million to President-elect Donald's inaugural fund Trump, in an effort to build a positive relationship with government after a tense precedent.
Although small, the donation is not something Meta did for President Joe Biden or Trump's previous term. Let us recall that it has been preceded by a dinner in November between Trump and CEO Mark Zuckerberg at Mar-a-Lago.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed the donation, which was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal, but declined to comment further.
Meta owns it Facebook and Instagram, platforms which Trump used heavily during his first term until his accounts were suspended after the uprising in January 6, 2021 at the US Capitol. Meta banned his accounts because it was concerned that Trump would incite further violence by denying Biden's election victory.
Trump's accounts were restored in 2023, but the former president continued to speak out about unfairness by Zuckerberg. In March, Trump called Meta "an enemy of the people" and later hinted that Zuckerberg should be jailed for alleged election meddling.
Zuckerberg has since made a more public appeal to Trump. He called the President-elect on the phone this summer to apologize for mislabeling photos of Trump on Facebook. Zuckerberg is one of several tech powerhouses and venture capitalists who, while critical of Trump, are trying to build a stronger relationship now that he is back in the White House.
