Meta Donates $1 Million for Trump’s Inauguration

(Left) Mark Zuckerberg speaks to reporters at the Japanese prime minister's office during his visit to Tokyo on Feb. 27, 2024. (Right) Former President Donald Trump smiles at the crowd during a Town Hall event at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., on Sept. 27, 2024. STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images; Emily Elconin/Getty Images

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.

The company confirmed the donation to The Associated Press on Dec. 12, two weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The Epoch Times has reached out to Meta for comment.

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.

In March, in response to calls to ban Chinese-owned TikTok in the United States, Trump warned via his Truth Social platform that doing so would allow Facebook and Zuckerberg to “double their business.”

“I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!” he wrote.

His comments alluded to the $400 million Zuckerberg and his wife infused into election offices around the country in 2020 via the Center for Technology and Civic Life. A congressional review of the Center’s tax documents found that 90 percent of the funds directed toward key swing states went to Democrat-leaning counties.

Trump’s relationship with Meta was further strained by the suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. At the time, Meta attributed the move to what they called his “praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6.”

Meta restored Trump’s accounts in January 2023, but simultaneously announced heightened penalties for public figures who repeatedly violate its policies or do so “in ways that incite or celebrate ongoing violent events or civil unrest.”

The company revoked that added scrutiny on July 12, 2024—the day before Trump was shot in the ear during an attempted assassination at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for President on the same basis. As a result, former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties,” Meta said at the time.

Trump’s response to his brush with death earned him praise from both allies and opponents alike, including Zuckerberg, who called the presidential candidate to express his admiration.

“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 has since softened his stance toward Zuckerberg. During an interview on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast, Trump expressed his appreciation for the call and praised the tech tycoon for “staying out of the election.”

Mary Man and The Associated Press contributed to this report.