Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in Washington DC on Monday can have giants from throughout the enterprise and tech worlds in attendance, maybe personified most dramatically if Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg sit collectively on the US Capitol.
Musk, the world’s richest particular person and a high adviser to Trump; Amazon’s Bezos; and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta might be prominently positioned collectively close to members of Trump’s cupboard, in keeping with an NBC Information report on Wednesday, persevering with their speedy public swing to the precise as they cozy as much as Trump’s Make America Nice Once more (Maga) energy base.
Musk turned the most important donor of the 2024 election, with the electric-vehicles and house entrepreneur contributing greater than 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} to Trump’s marketing campaign.
It was introduced in November that the Tesla CEO would co-head a newly created however ill-defined entity, known as the division of presidency effectivity, tasked with reforming the huge equipment of federal authorities staff.
Musk has been accused of utilizing the social media platform X, previously Twitter, which he owns, to unfold misinformation and propaganda to assist the Trump marketing campaign.
Bezos, the proprietor of on-line e-commerce large Amazon and the Washington Submit newspaper, broke from a protracted custom and his largely hands-off perspective towards the Submit’s editorial operations when he immediately blocked his journalists from endorsing a presidential candidate, shortly earlier than the paper was set to announce it was backing Kamala Harris for the White Home – a race she misplaced decisively to Trump on 5 November.
The transfer sparked outrage, resulting in resignations and a dramatic loss in subscriptions, whereas Bezos defended his choice. Amazon later donated $1m to the Trump’s inauguration fund, as did Meta, which owns Fb, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, introduced final week that he can be eliminating his firm’s factchecking program and boosting extra political content material, in a transfer extensively seen as facilitating extra conservative commentary and bending to the newly empowered Trump’s arguments that the precise is censored on social media.
Zuckerberg final week additionally scrapped DEI insurance policies at Meta and relaxed restrictions on speech seen as defending teams together with LGBTQ+ folks.
Zuckerberg may even co-host a lavish black-tie reception on Monday alongside the Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson to have a good time earlier than the three inaugural balls. The occasion was first reported by Puck Information.
In the meantime, the OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, introduced final month that he would make a private donation of $1m to the Trump inaugural fund.
Beneficiant donors to the inauguration committee might be rewarded with dinners alongside the president-elect and his spouse, Melania, earlier than the ceremony and after their return to the White Home on Monday.
The worth of entry is excessive, nevertheless, with the Guardian revealing that main donors to the inaugural committee are having to contribute twice as a lot to get direct entry to Trump and the vice-president-elect, JD Vance, at non-public occasions across the swearing-in ceremony in contrast with the primary inauguration in 2017, in keeping with fundraising supplies.
The flexibility to briefly work together with Trump and Vance requires donors to contribute a minimum of $1m to the committee – the highest-tier ticket bundle – in a marked improve from the earlier cycle when the identical entry value $500,000.
The swearing-in ceremony going down on 20 January coincides this yr with Martin Luther King Day, a federal vacation held on the third Monday in January to commemorate the life and work of the civil rights chief, who was assassinated in 1968.
And Trump might be sworn in in entrance of the US Capitol, on the identical platform the place his supporters on 6 January 2021 attacked police guarding the Capitol after which invaded the halls of Congress in an try, finally unsuccessful, to dam nationwide lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden’s win within the 2020 election.
The sudden assist of the planet’s wealthiest folks has raised moral questions and issues that the billionaires could have ulterior motives. Trump’s financial coverage proposals would reduce taxes for the richest 5% of Individuals and improve them for everybody else, in keeping with an evaluation by the Institute on Taxation and Financial Coverage (ITEP).
Nevertheless it’s not solely tech billionaires who’ve proven assist for Trump’s upcoming presidency. Music stars Carrie Underwood and the Village Folks have booked gigs to carry out on the inauguration, every releasing statements in regards to the significance of music “uniting folks” throughout politically divisive occasions.
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