Trump's inaugural fund receives $1 million donation from Mark Zuckerberg's Meta: report
The donation was promised by Mark Zuckerberg at a dinner he shared with Trump in November, the WSJ reported
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Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms has donated an eye-popping $1 million to President-elect Trump's inaugural committee, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Citing people familiar with the discussion, the outlet reported the promise of the paycheck came before Zuckerberg met with Trump at a November Mar-a-Lago dinner following the Republican's presidential win.
At the dinner, according to the outlet, Zuckerberg also provided a demonstration of the company's latest invention — Ray Ban Smart Glasses — and gifted them to Trump.
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Facebook co-founder, chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on April 11, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The dinner at Trump's Palm Beach, Florida, residence was focused on revitalizing the once-fought relationship. Zuckerberg advisers, senior Meta policy executive Joel Kaplan and Kevin Martin, accompanied the tech leader, the outlet reported.
Zuckerberg and his advisers met with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, as well as with three senior incoming White House advisers: Stephen Miller, Vince Haley and James Blair, the outlet said.
President-elect Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13. (Allison Robbert/Pool via AP, File / AP Newsroom)
The warming up to the incoming administration comes as Republicans hold majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Zuckerberg and Trump crossed paths during the president-elect's first term.
In 2019, the pair met in the Oval Office and in 2020, Trump said he had recently had dinner with Zuckerberg, who he said had congratulated him for being "No. 1 on Facebook."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23, 2019, on Facebook's impact on the financial services and housing sectors. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)
Zuckerberg has been critical of Trump's policies in years past, with the founder disagreeing with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and immigration policies.
In 2017, Zuckerberg criticized Trump's executive orders to combat illegal immigration, writing: "Like many of you, I’m concerned about the impact of the recent executive orders signed by President Trump."
In 2021, following Jan. 6, Facebook and other social media companies suspended Trump from posting. Trump and his supporters have maintained that he told protesters to march peacefully.
The decision prompted Trump to fire back, writing: "Next time I’m in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!"
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However, in recent history, Zuckerberg has been complementary of Trump's efforts.
This summer, Zuckerberg lauded Trump for his fist-pumping reaction to the July 13 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania.
"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 bada-- things I’ve ever seen in my life," Zuckerberg told Bloomberg, just days after the shooting took place.
"On some level as an American, it’s, like, hard to not get kind of emotional about that spirit and that fight, and I think that that’s why a lot of people like the guy," he added.
President-elect Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13. (Allison Robbert/Pool via AP, File / AP Newsroom)
Similarly, Trump has warmed up towards the Facebook founder. In August, Trump told FOX Business host Maria Bartiromo that Zuckerberg called him to apologize over an error.
"So, Mark Zuckerberg called me. First of all, he called me two times. He called me after the event and he said that was really amazing," Trump said during an Aug. 1 "Mornings with Maria" interview on FOX Business. "It was really brave."
"And he actually announced that he's not going to support a Democrat because he can't because he respected me for what I did that day," the Republican continued. "I think what I did… to me, was a normal response."
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Trump added that Zuckerberg apologized after Facebook mislabeled a photo of him that went viral.
"He actually apologized. He said they made a mistake… and they're correcting the mistake," Trump said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Meta for comment.