The Meta platform, owner of Facebook and Instagram, donated US$1 million (almost R$6 million) to the fund for the inauguration ceremony of the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, a company spokesperson told the news agency Reuters.
Although the value is modest considering the size of the company, the initiative is unusual. Meta has not donated to current President Joe Biden or to Trump’s first term in the White House, according to Bloomberg.
The contribution signals an attempt by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to get closer to the president-elect after years of tense relations. Facebook is among the social networks that vetoed publications by the Republican after the attack on the Capitol, on January 6, 2021. At the time, a crowd inflamed by the leader tried to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory in the previous year’s election.
Trump has already accused Meta of suppressing content from its platforms that would have harmed Biden in the 2020 election. He also criticized Zuckerberg’s donations to reinforce electoral infrastructure.
In July, in a post on the Truth Social network, Trump said that, if he were elected, “election fraudsters” would be arrested, indirectly referring to Zuckerberg. “If I am elected President, we will pursue voter fraudsters at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to prison,” Trump wrote. “Zuckerbucks, be careful!”
The CEO, in turn, refused to endorse Trump or Biden in this year’s election. Weeks after the election, however, Zuckerberg met with the president-elect and said he “wants to support the renewal” of the country, according to one of the Republican’s advisors.
On that occasion, they had dinner at the Republican’s property in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Earlier, the day before, a Meta spokesperson said that “Mark was grateful for the invitation and the opportunity to meet with members of the Trump team to talk about the new administration.”
The spokesperson added in a statement that the meeting represented an “important moment for the future of innovation” in the country.
Zuckerberg also reportedly met with Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, and other White House advisors, such as Stephen Miller, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Important names in the technology sector distanced themselves from the government during Trump’s first term, but this time many executives welcomed the Republican’s electoral victory, including Zuckerberg.
