Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently visited Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, showing that their previously tense relationship may be improving.
Trump, the president-elect, already has a strong connection with another tech leader, X owner Elon Musk.
In the past, there was little closeness between Trump and Zuckerberg. Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram after the Capitol riots, and Trump even threatened to jail Zuckerberg if he interfered in the 2024 presidential election.
However, signs have recently shown that their relationship is getting better, with Zuckerberg dining with Trump at his Florida mansion.
“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,” a Meta spokesperson told the BBC.
“It’s an important time for the future of American Innovation,” the statement added.
Jail Threat
In August, Trump wrote in a book that Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to interfere in the 2024 US election.
However, the president-elect later changed his tone, saying in October that it was “nice” Zuckerberg was “staying out of the election” and thanking him for a personal phone call after Trump faced an assassination attempt.
There have also been signs that Zuckerberg is trying to be more supportive of the incoming president.
Trump was banned from Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram in 2021 for what the company called his “praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6.”
But that ban has since been lifted.
In August this year, Zuckerberg expressed regret for reducing the reach of content about allegations involving Joe Biden’s son Hunter, which had been a topic for right-wing discussions in the US before the 2020 presidential election.
He also said he would not make any more donations to support electoral infrastructure after giving $400 million (£302 million) in 2020, which some people online saw as a way to avoid donation limits.
Zuckerberg explained that his donations were meant to be neutral, and his goal was to stay impartial in elections.
Big Tech Buddies
It is unclear what the two men talked about during dinner at Trump’s Florida home.
However, Meta has been facing more regulation in recent years, including an ongoing antitrust case filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2020.
Despite this, Zuckerberg’s improving relationship with the president-elect has been overshadowed by Trump’s close connection with Elon Musk.
Trump’s strong relationship with the X owner led to over $100 million (£79 million) in campaign donations, as well as endorsements from Musk and his superfans.
Their bond is so close that some have started calling Musk his “First Buddy,” a play on the title of the president’s wife, First Lady.
This has led to Musk being appointed to head a new Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which could give him influence over government policy, including the regulations that threaten his business empire.
However, Zuckerberg and Musk have had a long-standing rivalry.
Some of their disagreements are due to serious business issues, like a failed partnership in 2016 when a SpaceX rocket exploded while carrying a Facebook satellite.
Their conflict continued and eventually turned into a war of words about having a potential cagefight.
Although neither has backed down publicly, it seems unlikely that the billionaire showdown will actually happen.
