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Amazon confirmed on Thursday that it will donate $1 million in cash to Donald Trump's inaugural fund, as major tech companies seek to build relationships with the US president-elect.
Amazon's move comes after Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram I donated the same One million dollars for the fund. Amazon will also stream Trump's inauguration on its Prime Video service.
Trump has long accused Big Tech of a litany of abuses, including censorship of conservative media. After he won election in November, executives at big tech companies were quick to congratulate him, a contrast to their more cautious reception to his first term when they were welcoming him. Ask for relief From lobbying around antitrust, deals and artificial intelligence.
Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos also plans to visit Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort next week, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported Amazon's donation.
Google and Apple CEOs Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook, respectively, were quick to offer congratulations Trump After the elections. Pichai was expected to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Trump there after his election victory, The Information reported.
These moves come after Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Company X, gave tens of millions of dollars to the Trump campaign and then positioned himself as one of the president-elect's closest allies. Trump has appointed Musk to lead a group studying broad reforms to the government bureaucracy.
Apple's hardware business is also likely to be exposed to Trump's sweeping tariff plans, which risk upsetting its vital supply chains in China. During Trump's first term, Cook was able to secure cuts to the company's products.
Trump clashed with Amazon during his first term, during which he accused the online retail giant of putting companies out of business and criticized its tax policy.
In 2018, he also ordered a review of US Postal Service rates for package delivery, accusing the post office of acting as Amazon's “delivery boy.”
Under the Biden administration, Amazon has faced more pressure, as the US Federal Trade Commission headed by Lina Khan and several states filed a historic monopoly lawsuit against the company last year.
The FTC is also investigating major cloud providers, including Amazon, regarding their partnerships in generative AI.
After Trump's first assassination attempt over the summer, Bezos took to X to congratulate him on his “tremendous grace and courage under actual fire.”
And Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, too The newspaper was banned From endorsing Trump's Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in October. He denied that the agreement was part of a quid pro quo between Trump and his rocket company Blue Origin, which competes with Musk's SpaceX.
