Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has made a significant donation of $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund. This donation follows a private meeting between Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Trump at Mar-a-Lago, as confirmed by a Meta spokesperson and reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Stephen Miller, the newly appointed deputy chief of staff for Trump’s second term, has stated that Zuckerberg, along with other business leaders, is supportive of Trump’s economic initiatives. Zuckerberg has been working to improve his company’s relationship with the right after a tumultuous history with Trump.
Trump was banned from Facebook after the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol but had his account reinstated in early 2023. During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg refrained from endorsing a presidential candidate but expressed a more favorable view of Trump. He commended Trump’s response to an assassination attempt earlier this year.
Despite Zuckerberg's evolving stance, Trump continued to criticize him publicly during the campaign. In July, Trump issued a warning to election fraudsters on his social network Truth Social, using a derogatory nickname for the Meta CEO.
Corporate donations have been a common feature of presidential inaugurals, with the exception of 2009 when President-elect Barack Obama declined corporate contributions. However, he accepted them for his second inaugural in 2013. Facebook did not contribute to either Biden's 2021 inaugural or Trump’s 2017 inaugural.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Google donated $285,000 to both Trump's first inaugural and Biden’s inaugural. Microsoft gave $1 million to Obama’s second inaugural, but only $500,000 to Trump in 2017 and Biden in 2021. Inaugural committees are required to disclose their fundraising sources but not how the funds are utilized.
