Meta has donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. It’s the latest sign relations between the president-elect and Zuckerberg are mending.

Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg

Meta donated $1 million to Donald Trump’s fund for his presidential inauguration, a sign the social media giant is taking steps to improve relations with the president-elect.

The donation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which reported Meta had confirmed the donation.

It’s the latest sign that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Trump’s relations are mending, a far cry from Trump’s first term, when the then-president was kicked off Meta platforms.

In 2020, after Facebook was criticized over Trump’s violent remarks on the platform, Zuckerberg said he was “deeply shaken and disgusted by President Trump’s divisive and incendiary rhetoric.”

Trump was removed from Facebook and Instagram in 2021 for what Meta called praising “people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6.” Meta reversed the decision two years later.

In 2021, Trump filed suit against Facebook, Google, then-Twitter, and the companies’ respective CEOs, alleging they unlawfully censor him and other conservatives.

Mending the relationship
Trump continued his attacks on Zuckerberg during this election cycle.

In August, Trump said that Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to interfere in the election. Zuckerberg did not endorse any candidate.

Last month, he visited Trump at his resort in Mar-a-Lago for Thanksgiving Eve dinner.

“It’s an important time for the future of American Innovation. Mark was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming Administration,” Meta said in a statement about the dinner.

The CEO is looking to take a role in tech-policy conversations, a senior Meta executive told The Verge earlier this month.

Meta made over $39 billion in profit in 2023 and is worth about $1.6 trillion. Zuckerberg, who owns about 300 million Meta shares, would need to sell around 1,600 shares to pay the donation amount himself. He’s currently worth $224 billion, per Bloomberg’s estimate.

Meta is preparing to face an antitrust trial next year over accusations that it bought Instagram and WhatsApp to crush competition in social media.

Loyal supporters
Trump is stacking his administration with people who have supported him throughout his campaign — and who could take a lighter touch on tech regulation.

Last month, Trump named Brendan Carr, a Big Tech critic, to head the Federal Communications Commission. Carr wrote the FCC chapter of the conservative playbook Project 2025-17

Other key Trump appointments include Elon Musk as the cohead of the Department of Government Efficiency, David Sacks as AI and crypto czar, Paul Atkins as the lead of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary.

Zuckerberg is far from the only powerful person in tech and politics who’s been seen at Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s election win.

Musk, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Argentine President Javier Milei, and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson have all been spotted at Trump’s resort.

On Tuesday, Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said he has spent about “half” his time at Mar-a-Lago discussing policy issues with Trump.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from B-17.