Politics
Tech billionaires Zuckerberg, Bezos and Altman help bankroll Trump's inauguration. What to know
Tech executives, attempting to ease tensions with President-elect Donald Trump, are opening up their wallets after the former president staged a historic return to the White House.
OpenAI confirmed on Friday that its chief executive, Sam Altman, is planning to personally donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, becoming the latest tech billionaire trying to improve their rocky relationship with the new administration.
Meta, parent company of popular social media apps Facebook and Instagram, also confirmed it donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Amazon didn’t respond to a request for comment, but it is reportedly planning to donate the same amount to Trump’s inaugural fund.
While tech companies have given to previous presidential inaugurations, the donations come as Trump and Republicans look at reshaping policies that impact social media, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and more.
Trump has criticized Big Tech in the past, accusing some of the world’s largest online platforms such as Meta and Google of censoring conservative speech. The platforms have long denied these allegations, but the tech industry’s relationship with Republicans became increasingly fraught after social media companies temporarily suspended Trump’s accounts following the Jan. 6, 2001, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
During Trump’s first presidency, tech executives, including from Google, Facebook and Apple, clashed with his administration for banning immigrants from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
Trump’s campaign, backed by Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, and other major tech companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Here are the tech executives and companies that have donated to Trump’s inauguration:
OpenAI confirmed its chief executive, Sam Altman, is planning to personally donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
OpenAI
Altman said in a statement that “President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI” and Altman was “eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead.”
Federal and state lawmakers, including in California, have been trying to place guardrails around the development of artificial intelligence. While AI-powered tools can make it easier for people to sift through large amounts of information, the technology’s rapid development has also raised concerns about national security, disinformation and job losses.
But as tech companies face stiff competition, including from China, they’re also worried that regulation could slow them down.
Trump has said he plans to reverse President Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI, which aimed to address some of the safety concerns surrounding AI, and analysts anticipate Trump could make a big push for AI innovation.
Altman has also sparred with Musk, a vocal supporter of Trump who spent at least $200 million to back the former president’s 2024 campaign and is looking at ways to slash government spending, over AI safety concerns. Musk, an early investor in OpenAI who also runs rival AI startup XAI, has accused the company of putting profits and commercial interests ahead of the public good. OpenAI, controlled by a nonprofit board, is reportedly trying to restructure as a for-profit benefit corporation.
At the New York Times DealBook Summit this year, Altman didn’t appear too worried about Musk’s strong ties to Trump. “I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing and that it would be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon would hurt competitors and advantage his own businesses,” he said.
Meta
It’s the first time Meta has donated to a presidential inaugural fund, but the company has previously supported both parties’ convention committees, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in an e-mail.
Meta’s $1-million donation to the Trump inaugural fund was made at Zuckerberg’s request, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Zuckerberg, who expressed concerns about Trump’s immigration policies during his first presidency, has been strengthening ties with Trump. He met with Trump over dinner at his private Mar-a-Lago club and gifted him a pair of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, according to the Journal.
After an attempted assassination of Trump in July, Zuckerberg told Bloomberg in an interview that Trump’s reaction of raising his fist in the air was “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Trump’s campaign has floated proposals that would affect online platforms including legislation to “drastically limit the ability of big social media platforms to restrict free speech.”
Jeff Bezos reportedly plans to meet the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago club next week, and Amazon is also expected to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
(Charles Krupa / Associated Press)
Amazon
Bezos is also trying to win over Trump and plans to meet the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago club next week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The e-commerce giant contributed to Trump’s first presidential inauguration in 2017, donating roughly $58,000. (Biden reportedly wasn’t accepting tech donations for his 2021 inauguration.)
Trump has sparred with Amazon in the past, falsely accusing the Bezos-owned Washington Post of being a lobbyist for the tech giant. Trump also accused Amazon of a “post office scam.”
Bezos’ companies could benefit from Trump administration policies. Amazon Web Services and its space company, Blue Origin, which competes with SpaceX, has contracts with the federal government and has been striking a more friendly tone with Trump, according to a report from the Washington Post.
At the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Bezos appeared optimistic about the new administration and noted that Trump “seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation.”
“If I can help him do that, I’m going to help him, because we do have too much regulation in this country,” Bezos said.
Politics
Trump plans to meet with Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado next week
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President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in Washington next week.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Trump was asked if he intends to meet with Machado after the U.S. struck Venezuela and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro.
“Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump said.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado waves a national flag during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration, in Caracas on January 9, 2025. (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)
This will be Trump’s first meeting with Machado, who the U.S. president stated “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to lead.
According to reports, Trump’s refusal to support Machado was linked to her accepting the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump believed he deserved.
But Trump later told NBC News that while he believed Machado should not have won the award, her acceptance of the prize had “nothing to do with my decision” about the prospect of her leading Venezuela.
Politics
California sues Trump administration over ‘baseless and cruel’ freezing of child-care funds
California is suing the Trump administration over its “baseless and cruel” decision to freeze $10 billion in federal funding for child care and family assistance allocated to California and four other Democratic-led states, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced Thursday.
The lawsuit was filed jointly by the five states targeted by the freeze — California, New York, Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado — over the Trump administration’s allegations of widespread fraud within their welfare systems. California alone is facing a loss of about $5 billion in funding, including $1.4 billion for child-care programs.
The lawsuit alleges that the freeze is based on unfounded claims of fraud and infringes on Congress’ spending power as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This is just the latest example of Trump’s willingness to throw vulnerable children, vulnerable families and seniors under the bus if he thinks it will advance his vendetta against California and Democratic-led states,” Bonta said at a Thursday evening news conference.
The $10-billion funding freeze follows the administration’s decision to freeze $185 million in child-care funds to Minnesota, where federal officials allege that as much as half of the roughly $18 billion paid to 14 state-run programs since 2018 may have been fraudulent. Amid the fallout, Gov. Tim Walz has ordered a third-party audit and announced that he will not seek a third term.
Bonta said that letters sent by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announcing the freeze Tuesday provided no evidence to back up claims of widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in California. The freeze applies to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Social Services Block Grant program and the Child Care and Development Fund.
“This is funding that California parents count on to get the safe and reliable child care they need so that they can go to work and provide for their families,” he said. “It’s funding that helps families on the brink of homelessness keep roofs over their heads.”
Bonta also raised concerns regarding Health and Human Services’ request that California turn over all documents associated with the state’s implementation of the three programs. This requires the state to share personally identifiable information about program participants, a move Bonta called “deeply concerning and also deeply questionable.”
“The administration doesn’t have the authority to override the established, lawful process our states have already gone through to submit plans and receive approval for these funds,” Bonta said. “It doesn’t have the authority to override the U.S. Constitution and trample Congress’ power of the purse.”
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Manhattan and marked the 53rd suit California had filed against the Trump administration since the president’s inauguration last January. It asks the court to block the funding freeze and the administration’s sweeping demands for documents and data.
Politics
Video: Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela
new video loaded: Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela
transcript
transcript
Trump Says ‘Only Time Will Tell’ How Long U.S. Controls Venezuela
President Trump did not say exactly how long the the United states would control Venezuela, but said that it could last years.
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“How Long do you think you’ll be running Venezuela?” “Only time will tell. Like three months. six months, a year, longer?” “I would say much longer than that.” “Much longer, and, and —” “We have to rebuild. You have to rebuild the country, and we will rebuild it in a very profitable way. We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need. I would love to go, yeah. I think at some point, it will be safe.” “What would trigger a decision to send ground troops into Venezuela?” “I wouldn’t want to tell you that because I can’t, I can’t give up information like that to a reporter. As good as you may be, I just can’t talk about that.” “Would you do it if you couldn’t get at the oil? Would you do it —” “If they’re treating us with great respect. As you know, we’re getting along very well with the administration that is there right now.” “Have you spoken to Delcy Rodríguez?” “I don’t want to comment on that, but Marco speaks to her all the time.”
January 8, 2026
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