Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has donated $1 million (£786,000) to help fund President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration events.
This move comes after Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in November to improve their relationship.
Zuckerberg and Trump have had a rocky history, with Trump criticizing Facebook as “anti-Trump” in 2017 and later accusing the platform of censorship.
In fact, Facebook suspended Trump’s account in 2021 following his comments about the Capitol riot. Trump has even called Meta an “enemy of the people” and accused Zuckerberg of bowing to political pressure during the pandemic.
However, in a shift, Trump recently acknowledged Zuckerberg for staying out of the 2024 election, and even thanked him for reaching out after a personal crisis.
Despite this, Zuckerberg’s relationship with Trump is not as close as with other tech leaders like Elon Musk, who has made more substantial donations to Trump’s campaign and enjoys a more friendly connection with him.
The $1 million donation, which will help pay for inauguration-related activities, is seen by some as an effort by Meta to align itself with the incoming administration.
Notably, Meta didn’t make similar donations to President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2020 or to Trump’s previous inauguration in 2016 .
Credit : BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8j9e1x9z2xo