SAN FRANCISCO — When eight years ago, most technology executives ignored it. They then tried to compensate for this indifference by making a televised entrance into the lobby of Trump Tower, in New York, for a 90-minute meeting with the president-elect.
This election cycle, technology industry leaders have tried to avoid repeating the same mistake. Executives such as Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai began to make direct contact with Trump in the weeks and months leading up to the elections.
They flattered him, shared his problems, criticized his opponents. They even highlighted common enemies.
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This shift in strategy reflects what business leaders learned during Trump’s first term and shows how they adapted their approach to the possibility of his return to the White House. Believing that their political positions are flexible and that their actions are often driven by strategic interests, they are building direct relationships in the expectation that this will bring benefits to their business.
In his first term, Trump criticized technology companies for manipulating coverage of him on their platforms and opposing his agenda. He acted punitively towards those he considered his antagonists. In one case, Amazon accused Trump of pressuring the Pentagon to cancel a cloud computing contract with the company, claiming it was because its founder, .
But Trump was very complimentary about Apple CEO Tim Cook (). He appreciated Cook connecting directly with him to discuss trade and economic issues. This direct involvement helped Apple avoid imposing tariffs on many of its products, even as the Trump administration imposed restrictions on other companies manufacturing in China.
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This time, tech CEOs followed Cook’s example. Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, spoke with Trump after the presidential candidate suffered an assassination attempt in July. Pichai, CEO of Google, praised Trump when commenting on the campaign stop he made at a McDonald’s restaurant, stating that it was one of the biggest events ever seen at Google. Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon (), introduced himself to Donald Trump over the phone, while Jeff Bezos, his predecessor, also contacted the former president.
Executives have never publicly supported Trump, but after his victory on Tuesday, they congratulated him on social platform X. Tim Cook, typically the last among his peers to speak out on controversial issues during the previous Trump administration, had the final word , expressing his congratulations by saying: “Congratulations, President Trump, on your victory! We look forward to engaging with you and your government.”
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a management professor at Yale University who over the years has advised both executives and Donald Trump himself, said that establishing direct contact and courting Trump discreetly was “the right thing” to do, noting that it is the responsibility of executives to their shareholders maintain a relationship with anyone who occupies the White House.
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“They were building a relationship”, he analyzed. “And that is the right approach, to establish personal contact and build a foundation for the future.”
Meta and Google declined to comment, while Amazon and Apple did not respond to requests for comment. Trump shared some details about CEO contacts on several podcasts and in an interview with New York magazine. Others had already been reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
The private contact of the leaders of large technology companies with Donald Trump contrasted with that of the CEO of Tesla and several Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Musk campaigned for Trump in Pennsylvania and turned his personal feed on X into a defense channel for the then candidate. Meanwhile, venture capitalists donated generously to Trump’s campaign in hopes that his administration would be friendlier to their favorite causes — cryptocurrencies, antitrust and taxes — than President Joe Biden’s.
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On Wednesday morning, these important investors were visibly excited on social media. When Elon Musk posted that America’s “nation of builders” would soon be “free to build,” Marc Andreessen, a prominent investor who had contributed to Trump’s campaign, responded with his own slogan, “It’s time to build.” , accompanied by an American flag emoji.
By contacting Trump, the tech executives were doing more than just hedging their bets ahead of an uncertain election. They were also laying the groundwork for improving relations between Silicon Valley and Washington.
The relationship between some of the tech leaders and Donald Trump deteriorated rapidly after the Trump Tower meeting in 2016. Just weeks into the Trump administration, some of them criticized his executive order that temporarily blocked immigration from seven majority countries Muslim. Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of Google, was seen at a protest against the measure at San Francisco airport.
The Silicon Valley uprising has sown tension with the Trump administration. Tense relations continued when Joe Biden took office in 2021.
The Biden administration has put the technology sector on its heels with more aggressive antitrust actions and a strong crackdown on mergers and acquisitions. Over the past four years, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have brought antitrust actions against Amazon, Apple, Meta () and Alphabet (), Google’s parent company. The lawsuits threatened their business, .
FTC has also taken a stricter stance on mergers and acquisitions and launched an investigation into big technology companies’ investments in artificial intelligence startups. The agency’s scrutiny has been criticized by venture capitalists and others for slowing business in Silicon Valley and impeding the progress of traditional growth opportunities for large companies.
According to Trump, the leaders of large technology companies have expressed a willingness to turn the page on regulatory difficulties. He has been receptive to their pleas, having listened sympathetically to Cook’s complaints during a call last month about European regulators.
During a podcast interview last month, Trump recalled telling Cook that he would not “let them take advantage of our companies.” “That’s not going to happen.”
Trump also expressed skepticism about the possibility of the administration breaking up Google, saying he considers the company a bulwark against China’s technology ambitions. While the president-elect has criticized Google over the years for the way its algorithm ranks news articles about him, he has expressed concern that weakening it could be risky at a time of international technological competition.
These softer regulatory stances have raised hopes in Silicon Valley that Trump could replace Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, who has tried to block mergers, and Gary Gensler, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has antagonized the cryptocurrency industry.
Khan’s term has expired and Trump will have to decide whether to keep her in office. She was praised by Vice President-elect JD Vance for being willing to go after big technology companies. But his views will be just one of many considered by Trump, who has a history of seeking and weighing differing opinions on issues before making final decisions.
By engaging directly with Trump, tech executives increase their chances of influencing his decisions, including Lina Khan’s possible replacement, said Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the Chamber of Progress, a technology policy group that receives support from companies such as Amazon and Apple.
“We know he is susceptible to the last person who speaks in his ear,” Kovacevich said. “His management style hasn’t changed, but he may be better versed in what to prioritize.”
According to Sonnenfeld, the approach of technology executives in recent months shows that they understand the value of remaining united on issues. In the past, Trump has sought an advantage in negotiations by pitting competitors against each other, such as General Motors and Ford Motor Company. The way technology executives have reached out directly to Trump, conveying similar messages, suggests they recognize the importance of reaching consensus.
“If you’re too sycophantic, Trump will run you over,” analyzed Sonnenfeld. “Collective action is needed to avoid being victimized.”
