Tech Giants Amazon and Meta Back Trump's Inauguration

In a surprising move, Amazon and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, have each donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund. This comes as tech companies seek to mend fences with the incoming president. Amazon will also stream the event on its Prime Video service, worth another $1 million. Amazon's decision follows reports that Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos may meet soon. They've had a rocky past, with Trump criticizing Amazon and Bezos' newspaper, The Washington Post. Bezos, however, has recently taken a more positive stance on Trump's second term.

Meta's donation follows a private meeting between CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Trump. Zuckerberg has been trying to improve his company's image on the right after a tough relationship with Trump. Despite Trump's attacks during the campaign, Zuckerberg has shown more support for Trump lately. Historically, corporations have been big donors to presidential inaugurals. However, Obama refused corporate donations in 2009, only to accept them later. Facebook didn't donate to Biden's or Trump's previous inaugurals. Amazon's donation this time is much higher than the $58, 000 it gave to Trump's first inaugural. Microsoft also gave $1 million to Obama's second inaugural, but only half that to Trump and Biden.

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