Tech’s billionaire fraternity has been cosying up to Donald Trump in the hopes that this time around, the “America-first” president-elect will treat them with less disdain than his first time at the helm. They hope that his stated “pro-business” stance will decrease scrutiny on their practices, amid a number of ongoing legal battles that had previously aimed to limit their powers.
Consider: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Trump’s response to being shot at was “badass”; this week, he congratulated his “decisive victory” on his X competitor, Threads. (Trump has previously called Facebook the “enemy of the people”, and threatened to put him in prison if he steered his social media platforms against him.) Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos, after being called “Jeff Bozo” by the former president, wrote on Elon Musk-owned X), “Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory.” He also killed an endorsement for Trump rival Harris at the paper that he owns, the Washington Post. Musk himself has rallied and canvassed for Trump, as analysts speculate the billionaire will play a key role in the Trump administration. The CEOs of Google, OpenAI, Apple and Microsoft all also chimed in.
