With just weeks to go before Donald Trump returns to the White House, two of his most well-known adversaries from Big Tech — Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg — are extending olive branches in a very public way, Independent reports.
Both companies recently pledged $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee, signaling a possible shift in the once-contentious relationship between the former president and two of the most influential figures in the tech world.
The decision by Amazon and Meta to support Trump’s inauguration reflects a broader strategy by Bezos and Zuckerberg to align themselves with the incoming administration. Once seen as staunch critics of Trump, both men now appear to be taking steps to improve relations with the president-elect.
Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, is not only donating $1 million in cash but also contributing an additional $1 million in the form of in-kind support by broadcasting the January 20th inauguration festivities on its streaming platform. This move is seen as a dramatic pivot for Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, a newspaper that drew Trump’s ire during his first term for its critical reporting. Trump frequently referred to the paper as “the Amazon Washington Post” and was accused of blocking Amazon from landing a lucrative Pentagon cloud computing contract.
But Bezos’s outreach to Trump didn’t start with this donation. After a failed assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in July, Bezos publicly praised the former president for his “tremendous grace and courage under literal fire” on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Later, he reportedly intervened to ensure The Washington Post did not endorse Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election.
Similarly, Mark Zuckerberg — who famously clashed with Trump after Facebook banned him in the wake of the January 6th Capitol riot — is also moving to strengthen ties with the incoming administration. Meta recently pledged $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, just weeks after Zuckerberg and Trump were seen having dinner together at Mar-a-Lago. The event was viewed by political insiders as a symbolic truce between the two men.
Zuckerberg’s change of heart may have been influenced by the same July rally incident that prompted Bezos to soften his stance. In a podcast interview, Zuckerberg called Trump’s reaction to the attack “one of the most badass things [he’d] ever seen in [his] life,” referencing Trump’s defiant fist-raising gesture after the incident.
While Bezos and Zuckerberg’s actions could be seen as pragmatic business decisions, some analysts argue that fear is a motivating factor. Trump has been open about his desire for retribution against those he perceives as political enemies, and he now has the executive power to act on it.
During his time out of office, Trump repeatedly hinted at potential legal consequences for figures like Zuckerberg. In his recent photo book, Trump shared an image of himself with Zuckerberg at the White House, claiming the Facebook founder “would come to the Oval Office to see me…while always plotting.” Trump even suggested that if Zuckerberg “does anything illegal this time, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.”
These statements have led many observers to believe that Zuckerberg’s donation to Trump’s inauguration is a way to avoid becoming a target of politically motivated investigations. The fact that Meta has since pulled back from funding civic engagement programs tied to elections — something it did during the 2020 election — is seen by some as an effort to avoid scrutiny from Trump and his allies.
Bezos, too, may be hoping to avoid potential regulatory challenges. With Trump poised to regain control of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, Big Tech could face heightened antitrust scrutiny. Building goodwill with the administration now may give Amazon a buffer against potential investigations.
The timing of these moves is significant. As Trump prepares to take office with promises of “revenge” and “retribution” as part of his second-term agenda, Bezos and Zuckerberg are sending a clear signal: they want to be seen as allies, not adversaries. Their financial support for Trump’s inauguration marks a stark reversal from their earlier stances, but it also reflects the political realities of doing business in Washington.
