Mark Zuckerberg donates $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund

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The Meta Platforms, Inc. logo appears on the screen of a smartphone in Reno, United States, on November 27, 2024. (Photo Illustration by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

ORLANDO, Fla. - Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms has donated $1 million to the inaugural fund of President-elect Trump, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The outlet had originally reported the expected donation when Zuckerberg met with Trump for dinner at Mar-a-Lago back in November following Trump's presidential win. 

This donation comes after a much different past by Zuckerberg and his company and comes after Trump had threatened to punish the tech company creator if he tried to influence the election against him. 

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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, once a critic of Trump, congratulated him on X after the election and said he’s optimistic, describing Trump's win as "an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory,".

Zuckerberg’s efforts to strengthen ties with the president-elect, began years earlier and included the recent dinner with Trump on the patio of his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. Meta Platforms Inc. debuted its first pair of augmented reality glasses, devices that show a c

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That dinner focused on general relationship-building and ended two-day's of meetings Zuckerberg's advisors at the Florida club.

Zuckerberg also met with Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, and senior White House advisers Stephen Miller, Vince Haley, and James Blair, according to sources.

Before the private dinner with Trump, Zuckerberg demonstrated Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses and gifted a pair to the president-elect. 

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Meta also informed Trump’s inaugural fund of plans to make a donation, sources said.

Public records show Zuckerberg has donated to congressional candidates from both parties but has largely avoided presidential races. 

Neither he nor Meta contributed to Trump’s 2017 inaugural fund or President Biden’s in 2021.

Zuckerberg’s relationship with Trump has shifted over the years:

2017- While a lobbying group he founded gave $5,000 to Trump’s 2017 transition, Zuckerberg later criticized Trump’s immigration policies in a Facebook post, expressing concern about their impact.

2019- The two met in the Oval Office.

2020- Trump said he had dinner with Zuckerberg, who congratulated him on being "#1 on Facebook".

2021- After the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol, Facebook suspended Trump from posting.

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, hired strategist Baker, known for ties to Republican donor Todd Ricketts, to improve relations with Republicans. 

Baker’s role was to explain to Trump aides and GOP officials the $400 million the couple donated in 2020 to support election infrastructure during the pandemic, sources said.

2022- After some negative response, Baker said the donation was a one-time thing and was a pandemic-related move. 

However, in recent months, their relationship has appeared to improve, with Zuckerberg praising Trump for his response after the assassination attempt, saying that it was "one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life."

After Trump’s election victory in November, Zuckerberg congratulated Trump in a social-media post and said he was looking forward to working with the president-elect.