Amazon said Thursday it will donate $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund and an additional $1 million in-kind donation by live-streaming the historical event on Prime Video.
Amazon’s announcement, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, coincided with news that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
The move marks a shift for tech leaders who appear to want to improve the previously rocky relations with Trump, who will take office next month.
Trump has previously criticized the Amazon- and Jeff Bezos-owned The Washington Post over political coverage. Bezos has publicly condemned some of Trump’s rhetoric and accused him of bias in a 2019 lawsuit over a $10 billion Pentagon contract.
Bezos has recently softened his stance, expressing optimism about Trump’s second term and endorsing proposed regulatory reforms while at a business summit last week.
Bezos and Trump are set to meet next week, potentially marking a turning point in their relationship.
Amazon’s donation and live-streaming offer, as well as Meta’s donation, signal a strategic effort to improve relations with Trump and his incoming administration after years of tension.
Trump’s relationship with Meta was strained by the suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts in January 2021, following the breach of the Capitol. The company attributed the deplatforming to what they said was Trump’s “praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6.”
The company restored his accounts in early 2023 and announced stiffer penalties for public figures who repeatedly violate its policies “in ways that incite or celebrate ongoing violent events or civil unrest.”
This heightened scrutiny was later revoked on July 12, one day before the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Zuckerberg expressed praise for Trump following his brush with death, and called him.
“Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most bad-[expletive] things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Zuckerberg told Bloomberg days after the shooting.
Trump’s stance on Zuckerberg has also softened since the call, he revealed on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast. Trump said during the interview that he appreciated the tech leader’s call and praised him for “staying out of the election.”
This was a reference to the $400 million Zuckerberg and his wife donated $400 million to election offices around the country during the 2020 elections, with 90 percent directed toward Democrat-leaning counties in key swing states.
In recent months, Zuckerberg has publicly supported some of Trump’s economic plans.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, has said Zuckerberg wants to support and assist the president-elect in implementing national reforms. The donation marks a turning point in the billionaires’ previously rocky relationship.
