Meta gives Trump $1 million to the inauguration as the final round of ass kissing begins

This week, Meta Announce it She donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund. The fund is used to finance celebrations that accompany the President-elect’s inauguration day celebrations. This seems to be another sign that the tech giant is doing everything it can to get on the man’s good side He threatened once To send its CEO to prison for the rest of his life.

Meta’s generous financial gift — quite large in terms of inaugural contributions — comes on the heels of other conciliatory moves by Zuk. In November, the tech mogul had dinner with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago, and afterward he dined with Meta Its CEO said “Grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming administration.” Before the election, Zuckerberg also spoke to Trump and praised him, saying he believed so he was “badass” How did he deal with the attempt on his life? The Meta founder also gave Trump a much cheaper gift in the form of his company’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.

It makes sense that Zook would turn on the charm since Trump has repeatedly threatened to throw him in jail. In fact, the constant theme with Trump has been Zuckerberg one way or another Help undermine His electoral fortunes during the 2020 presidential election. This year, Trump actually co-authored it Coffee table book He claimed that Zook and his wife, Priscilla Chan, conspired against him. While the book is vague on the details of what this alleged plot involved, it is believed to be a reference to a series of major crimes. Donations to electoral infrastructure That Zuckerberg and Chan took to elective offices in 2020. For whatever reason, Trump seems to assume that these donations have been undermined His electoral chances that year. The book states that if the tech CEO “does anything illegal” again, he “will spend the rest of his life in prison.” Trump has also threatened Zuckerberg with imprisonment and prosecution at other points, usually via… His posts on his social media platformSocial truth.

The Meta inauguration gift is another effort by the tech platform to stay in the good graces of the new boss, and it’s not a unique thing for a company to do when there’s new management.

In fact, while the actual presidential inauguration — the part where the president is sworn in — is publicly funded, many of the festivities after the initial ceremony, technically known as “Inauguration Events” It is fueled by private donations. In fact, a wide range of people and organizations can donate to the Presidential Inaugural Committee, but more often than not, the largest donations come from corporations, lobbyists, and political action committees. These donations It is widely seen In an attempt to gain the support of the next administration.

The rules for inaugural donations can change from one presidency to another. For example, in 2009, in a show of populist solidarity, Obama Prohibited corporate contributions In his opening celebrations. However, this limit was later raised in 2012. A study showed 40% of the money allocated to Obama at his inauguration in 2013 came from special interest groups, with AT&T Communications being the largest donor (giving $4.1 million).

During his first rodeo, Trump’s 2016 inauguration committee sparked A whopping $107 millionwhich was the largest inauguration of a president in the history of the United States. For comparison, Obama’s inauguration in 2013 It raised about $43 million While his inauguration ceremony in 2009 raised $55 million. In 2016, Trump’s only cap was on lobbyist contributions. Companies that were Biggest spenders Trump’s inauguration included senior figures from the military-industrial complex Lockheed Martin and Boeing, as well as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Other notable shareholders include Dow Chemical, Pfizer, Microsoft, Google, and a number of companies Private prison companiessuch as CoreCivic, Geo Group, and Union Supply Group. Once again, the single largest contributor was AT&T, donating nearly $2 million.

It is worth noting that Trump’s first inauguration was not without controversy. In 2022, the Trump Organization and the Trump Inaugural Committee He paid $750,000 to the District of Columbia To resolve allegations, pursued by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, that they misused the funds. Trump said at the time that the payment was not an admission of guilt or guilt.