Meta donated $1M to Trump inaugural fund after Zuckerberg met with president-elect

Meta donated $1 million to President-elect Trump's inaugural fund, the company confirmed to The Hill Thursday.

The reported donation comes just weeks after CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in what was largely seen as an attempt to court the president-elect as he heads back to the White House.

Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, said earlier this month that Zuckerberg is "very keen to play an active role in the debates that any administration needs to have about maintaining America's leadership in the technological space."

Zuckerberg and Trump had a somewhat contentious relationship since Facebook banned the former president from the platform following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. At one point, the former president labeled Facebook an "Enemy of the People."

Trump's account was reinstated in 2023 and the president-elect has changed his tune on Zuckerberg, stating in October he likes the tech executive "much better now."

The Meta CEO did not endorse a candidate during the 2024 presidential election but occasionally touched upon politics on the campaign trail. Last July, he called Trump a "badass" for his immediate reaction after being shot in an assassination attempt on his life.

Meta's platforms also sought to shift away from political content during the election. In an update earlier this year, Instagram said it would no longer recommend political content unless users manually change their settings.

Zuckerberg is among various tech leaders seeking to mend fences with the incoming White House leader, especially as tech billionaire Elon Musk, who owns the social media platform X, SpaceX and Tesla, becomes increasingly involved in Trump's inner orbit.