Companies with which he had previously disputed President-elect Trump They are now making donations in seven-figure sums to his inauguration in 2025.
Trump has clashed with several Fortune 500 CEOs over the years, but after he won the presidential election in November, some major corporate leaders are dropping big money on exclusive celebrations for the incoming president.
“In the first term, everyone was fighting me,” Trump said recently at Mar-a-Lago, according to The Washington Post. “And this time, everyone wants to be my friend.”
Meta, the world's largest social network headed by Mark Zuckerberg, Trump's Facebook account suspended and Instagram accounts in 2021 after the events of January 6 – which Trump described as an “insult” to his voters. In his new book, “Save America,” Trump accused Zuckerberg of “conspiring” against him in 2020.
The Justice Department seeks to bar Jan. 6 accused of attending Trump's inauguration
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., arrives after a break during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on January 31. (Kent Nishimura)
“He told me there was no one like Trump on Facebook,” Trump wrote. “But at the same time, for whatever reason, he turned it against me.” He added: “We are monitoring him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time, he will spend the rest of his life in prison, as will others who cheat in the 2024 presidential elections.”
In his book, Trump also accused Zuckerberg of “always conspiring to install shameful lock boxes in a real conspiracy against the president.”
However, the relationship appears to have changed as the election approaches. After the attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, Zuckerberg said that Trump's fist pump in the air after being shot in the ear was “one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life.”
Shortly after Trump won the election in November, Zuckerberg met with the incoming president at Mar-a-Lago. Just weeks later, Meta donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund.
“Mark Zuckerberg has been very clear about his desire to be a supporter and participant in this change that we are seeing across America, and around the world with the reform movement that Donald Trump is leading,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller said. During his appearance on “Ingraham's Corner.”
Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos, will donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration in 2025. (AP Photo)
Despite the year-long clash between Amazon's billionaire founder, Jeff Bezos — who also owns The Washington Post — and the incoming president, the e-commerce company recently pledged to donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund.
After Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity in 2016 that Amazon was “getting away with murder on taxes,” Bezos hit back at the then-presidential candidate.
Appearing at a technology conference, Bezos said Trump's comments were “not an appropriate way for a presidential candidate to behave.”
“Washington Post employees want to strike because Bezos doesn't pay them enough,” Trump wrote in another tweet on X, then Twitter, in June 2018. “I think a really long strike would be a great idea.” Employees will get more money and we will be rid of fake news for an extended period of time!
The mood appears to have changed after the 2024 election, when Bezos said he was “very optimistic” about Trump's regulatory agenda.
President-elect Trump smiles during AmericaFest held at Turning Point USA at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix on Sunday. (Rebecca Noble)
“I'm very optimistic — he seems to have a lot of energy about reducing regulation,” Bezos said at the conference. New York Times Summit DealBook. “My view is that if I can help him do it, I will help him.”
When Ford agreed to a deal to meet California's efficiency standards, the company defied then-President Trump's plans to pressure the state into setting its own green energy standards for automakers.
Trump expressed his opposition to the auto giant's decision, saying that Henry Ford, the company's founder, would be “very disappointed to see his modern-day grandchildren want to build a car that is much more expensive, less safe, and doesn't work.” Also, because executives don't want to fight California regulators.”
The blue oval Ford Motor Company logo is seen on the cross grille of a 2008 F-150 pickup truck at a Ford dealership in Centennial, Colorado, on November 2, 2008. (David Zalubowski)
Ford, one of the world's largest automakers, recently announced that it will make a seven-figure donation to Trump's inauguration in January.
Other major automakers, such as General Motors and Toyota, will also make individual donations of $1 million to Trump.
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Trump will also receive a $1 million donation from Intuit, whose stock recently fell in November after it was reported that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was considering creating a free tax-filing app.
