Zuckerberg dines with Trump at Mar-a-Lago to talk about the incoming administration

Mr. Trump was kicked off Facebook following the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The company restored his account in early 2023

Donald Trump dined on Wednesday (November 27, 2024) with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, bringing together the Facebook founder and the former president who was once banned from that social network.

Stephen Miller, who has been appointed deputy chief of staff for Trump’s second term, said Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to support Trump’s economic plans. The tech CEO has been seeking to change his company's perception on the right following a rocky relationship with Trump.

“Mark, obviously, he has his own interest, and he has his own company and he has his own agenda,” Mr. Miller said in an interview on Fox News about the meeting. “But he’s made clear that he wants to support the national renewal of America under Trump’s leadership.”

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed that Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Trump met on Wednesday, saying he was invited for dinner with the president-elect and other members of his team to talk about the incoming administration.

Mr. Trump was kicked off Facebook following the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The company restored his account in early 2023.

During the 2024 campaign, Mr. Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president.

Mr. Zuckerberg has since taken a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump’s response to his first assassination attempt, calling it “badass.” Mr. Zuckerberg also complained that senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic.

Still, Mr. Trump in recent months had continued to attack Mr. Zuckerberg publicly. In July, he posted a message on his own social network Truth Social threatening to send election fraudsters to prison in part by citing a nickname he used for the Meta CEO. “ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!” Mr. Trump wrote.

The Thanksgiving eve visit also comes as tech mogul Elon Musk has become more influential in Trump's Make America Great Again movement, contributing an estimated $200 million through his political action committee to help elect Trump. Musk is the billionaire owner of the X social network, a competitor to Meta.

Mr. Musk has spent considerable time at Mar-a-Lago since the election, and Mr. Trump selected him to lead an outside advisory panel known as the “Department of Government Efficiency ” to identify waste with Vivek Ramaswamy, a venture capitalist and former GOP presidential candidate.

Published - November 28, 2024 11:30 am IST