FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump met with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook founder Wednesday at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. They had dinner with the former president, who was once banned from social networking sites. .
Stephen Miller, who was appointed chief of staff during Trump’s second term, said Zuckerberg, like other business leaders, wants to support Trump’s economic plan. The tech company CEO is trying to change his company’s perception of the right following his fractious relationship with Trump.
“Mark, obviously, he has his own interests, his own company, his own agenda,” Miller said of the meeting in an interview with Fox News. “But he has made it clear that he wants to support America’s national rebirth under Trump’s leadership.”
A Meta spokesperson confirmed that Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Trump met Wednesday, saying that Mr. Zuckerberg was invited to dinner with the president-elect and other members of his team to talk about the incoming administration. Ta.
Trump was banned from Facebook following the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The company restored his account in early 2023.
Zuckerberg did not endorse a presidential candidate during the 2024 election.
Since then, Mr. Zuckerberg has taken a more aggressive stance toward Mr. Trump. Earlier this year, he praised President Trump’s response to his first assassination attempt, calling it “terrible.” Zuckerberg also complained that Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19-related content during the pandemic.
Still, Trump continued to publicly attack Zuckerberg in recent months. In July, he posted a message on his social network, Truth Social, referencing the nickname he used for Meta CEO and threatening to send election fraudsters to prison. “Zuckerbucks, watch out!” Trump wrote.
The Thanksgiving eve visit comes as tech mogul Elon Musk has become more influential in President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, estimated through his political action committee to help elect Trump. This was done in light of the donation of $200 million. Musk is the billionaire behind Social Network X, a competitor of Meta.
Mr. Musk has spent significant time at Mar-a-Lago since the election, and Mr. Trump has worked with venture capitalist and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on an outside advisory board known as the Department of Government Efficiency to identify waste. He was selected as the head of the committee.
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