Amazon donates to Trump’s inauguration as Bezos plans visit
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Besides the direct donation, Amazon, founded by Mr Jeff Bezos, is also streaming the inauguration as an in-kind donation worth US$1 million.
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NEW YORK – Amazon.com is donating US$1 million (S$1.34 million) to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, a company spokesperson said, joining Meta Platforms in contributing to the festivities as tech companies look to build positive relationships with the administration.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also meeting Trump next week, the latter said on Dec 12, highlighting his contacts with tech titans.
“Bezos is coming up next week,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC after he rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Apart from the direct donation, Amazon is streaming the inauguration as an in-kind donation worth US$1 million, the spokesperson added on Dec 12. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the donations are from company coffers and not funded by Mr Bezos.
Trump said on Dec 12 that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg met him as well and noted his extensive contact with Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has also donated US$1 million to the Republican’s inaugural fund.
“I want to get ideas from them,” he said of business leaders. “Look, we want them to do well.”
Mr Bezos has a range of business interests that touch on the federal government. Blue Origin, his rocket company, has contracts with Nasa. Amazon, mostly through its cloud computing arm, is a major contractor for defence, intelligence and other federal agencies.
During Trump’s first term, he lashed out at the billionaire over coverage of his administration by Bezos-owned Washington Post. The newspaper opted not to endorse a candidate for president this election.
Mr Bezos said he was “very optimistic” about Trump’s second term during an appearance at The New York Times’ DealBook summit earlier this month.
“I am very optimistic this time around, I am very hopeful, he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation, and if I can help him do that, I am going to help him,” he added.
Mr Musk, also a sizable federal contractor, has been a frequent guest of Trump’s since the November election. He was also asked to help run a federal cost-cutting initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency. BLOOMBERG
