Mark Zuckerberg will cohost a reception for Donald Trump’s inauguration as the president-elect returns to the White House for his second term.

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The Meta CEO, along with a few billionaire Republican donors, will be hosting the black-tie event on Monday (Jan 20) before the inaugural balls, reported The Associated Press, citing anonymous sources familiar with the private plans. 

Also read | Meta apologises over Zuckerberg's remark on 2024 elections; 'inadvertent error'

The other cohosts include Miriam Adelson, the Dallas Mavericks owner and widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Tilman Fertitta, Trump’s pick to serve as US ambassador to Italy and Houston Rockets owner. Todd Ricketts, the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and Ricketts’ wife, Sylvie Légère, will also join among the co-hosts.

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An invite to the event was posted on social media by a journalist and podcaster. 

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“More Zucking up... Zuckerberg to host an inaugural ball reception for Trump and Vance with Miriam Adelson, Todd Ricketts and Tilman Fertitta,” she wrote in the post along with sharing the image of the invite.

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Social media reacts to invite

Social media users were quick to notice that the name of Zuckerberg’s wife, Priscilla Chan, was not mentioned anywhere in the invite.

People in the comments section highlighted this fact saying “Notice it does not say Priscilla Chan,” and “His wife's name is missing.”

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Another user wrote, “His wife’s name isn’t on the invite. Interesting.”

While other users perceive the move as Zuckerberg’s attempt to become a close ally with the incoming US president.

“Mark doesn’t want to go to prison for the rest of his life. He’s going to do exactly what he’s told to do, when he’s told to do it,” a user wrote.

Zuckerberg and Trump

Zuckerberg was once seen as a foe of the former president for banning him from Instagram and Facebook after the US Capitol attack on Jan 6, 2021. However, the CEO has been aligning himself with Trump, in an attempt to improve their relationship.

Also read | Zuckerberg claims Biden officials would 'scream' to enforce Covid 'censorship' on Facebook

Zuckerberg dined with the Republican at his iconic Mar-a-Lago club in Florida following his win in the November elections last year. His company Meta also donated $1 million as an inauguration fund to Trump.

Last week, Zuckerberg announced a policy overhaul across Facebook and Instagram, removing third-party fact-checking on the social media platforms to promote free speech. Trump claimed that the move was “probably” a response to the threats made by him against the tech mogul.

(With inputs from agencies)