Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, has added his voice to the growing list of technology leaders donating significant sums to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. This information was first reported by Axios as we near the inauguration date of January 20.
According to reports, Cook intends to contribute $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee from his personal funds. Recently, he visited Mar-a-Lago in Florida to meet with Trump, where he was also seen sharing a meal with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
In late November, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai had a meeting with him in December. Trump has also held discussions with other prominent figures in the tech industry, including Jeff Bezos.
Major companies such as Meta, Amazon, and Uber have contributed $1 million each to Trump’s inauguration fund. Additionally, OpenAI’s Sam Altman has also made a personal donation of $1 million. Outside of Silicon Valley, corporations like Ford, Toyota, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America have also contributed significant amounts to support the inauguration fund.
Throughout Trump’s first term, Cook met with him on several occasions and received commendations. Other tech executives are now reportedly looking to adopt a similar approach in Trump’s second term. In October, Cook discussed Apple’s challenges within the European Union with Trump, who assured him that he would protect American companies from being “taken advantage of” by the EU if he were elected.
This week, Meta restructured its policy team in anticipation of Trump’s upcoming presidency. Nick Clegg has stepped down from his role as Meta’s global head of policy after half a decade, with Joel Kaplan stepping in. Kaplan, who previously worked under President George W. Bush, has established connections with Trump and incoming Vice President JD Vance.
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