Meta Donates $1 Million For Trump's Inauguration
JAKARTA - Meta Platforms donated 1 million US dollars (or equivalent to Rp. 15.9 billion for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
This was confirmed by the company's spokesperson to Reuters via email as reported Thursday, December 12.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said the donation was a deviation from past practices carried out by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Meta.
Zuckerberg refused to support Donald Trump or Joe Biden for this year's election, in a media interview that took place before Biden stepped down as a Democratic candidate and was replaced by Kamala Harris.
However, the billionaire CEO praised Trump's reaction to the assassination attempt on July 13 as "one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life."
Zuckerberg met Trump after the election in late November, according to the New York Times, the meeting, according to the newspaper, was the Meta boss's latest attempt to establish a positive relationship with Trump.
Zuckerberg's Trump and Meta have strained relations after the 2020 presidential election.
The elected president accused Meta of hiding content that would harm Biden in the 2020 election, and also criticized Zuckerberg's contribution to boost election infrastructure.
Meta suspended Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts for about two years after the Capitol riots in January 2021.