Apple CEO Tim Cook has joined a chorus of Big Tech executives making sizeable donations to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The news comes via a scoop from Axios as we approach Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Update: As researched by Cabel Sasser, it does not appear that Tim Cook donated to President Biden’s inauguration fund in 2021.
Cook will “personally” make a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural committee, the report says. Last month, Cook visited Mar-a-Lago in Florida for a meeting with Trump. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was also spotted at the dinner table with Trump and Cook.
Cook, a proud Alabama native, believes the inauguration is a great American tradition, and is donating to the inauguration in the spirit of unity, the sources said. The company is not expected to give.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump at the end of November. Google CEO Sundar Pichai met with Trump in December. Trump has also met with Jeff Bezos and many other high-profile executives in the Big Tech industry and beyond.
The likes of Meta, Amazon, and Uber have donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. OpenAI’s Sam Altman also made a $1 million donation. Outside of Silicon Valley, companies including Ford, Toyota, GM, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Coinbase, and more have donated millions to the Trump inauguration fund.
Cook met with and earned praise from Trump multiple times during his first term, and other tech leaders are reportedly trying to imitate that strategy during Trump’s second term. In October, Cook spoke with Trump about Apple’s ongoing battles in the European Union. Trump promised Cook he would not let the EU “take advantage” of American companies if he were to get elected.
Meta this week shook up its policy team ahead of Trump taking office later this month. Nick Clegg stepped down as Meta’s global head of policy after six years, with Joel Kaplan taking over. Kaplan worked under President George W. Bush and has close ties to Trump and incoming VP JD Vance.
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