Washington DC, United States

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has donated $1 million to United States President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural fund, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The donation was made after Trump openly threatened repercussions for any perceived meddling by technology leaders in his election campaigns. The Republican had threatened Zuckerberg that he would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to interfere in the 2024 US presidential election. 

Advertisment

Trump and Zuckerberg's relations have soured over the years. Be it the criticisms of Trump's immigration policies in 2017 or Facebook suspending former US president's account after the January 6 Capitol riot.

Watch | Elon Musk's Net Worth Soars Past $400 Billion After SpaceX Boost

Advertisment

In 2021, Trump even accused Zuckerberg of trying to rig the election against the Republicans.

Zuckerberg or Meta did not contribute to Trump's or incumbent President Joe Biden's inaugural fund in 2017 and 2021 respectively. 

But in recent years, the Meta CEO has worked to bridge the gaps between him and Republicans as he hosted dinners and meetings with important personalities. This also includes a meeting with the incoming president at his Mar-a-Lago residence. At one such event, Zuckerberg gifted Trump a pair of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses. 

Advertisment

The donation worth $1 million is reportedly an effort by Zuckerberg to report Meta as neutral in political matters. 

Zuckerberg 'apologised' 

In March, Trump said that Zuckerberg called him to apologise for censoring him and assured him that he would "not support a Democrat."

"Mark Zuckerberg called me recently. First of all, he called me a few times. He called me after the event and he said, 'That was amazing, it was very brave,'" Trump told Fox News in an interview.

Also read | Musk launches scathing attack at Trudeau, calls him 'insufferable tool'

"He announced he's not gonna support a Democrat because he can't because he respected me for what I did that day," Trump said.

"They are working on it, and I think they’ve fixed it. I don’t believe he’s doing what he did five years ago with the $500 million," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)