President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural celebrations began with a notable gathering of technology industry leaders and influential figures at a Monday morning church service at St John’s Church.
The attendees included prominent tech executives Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Tim Cook of Apple, and Sundar Pichai of Google. Also present were media mogul Rupert Murdoch, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
These tech leaders had previously been vocal critics of Trump’s first-term policies, particularly regarding climate change and immigration. At the Capitol rotunda, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, was observed among the attendees, taking time to admire the architectural details. Musk has invested significantly in Trump’s campaign, contributing nearly $300 million, and has maintained close ties with the president-elect.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chou is anticipated to attend the inauguration, despite his company facing challenges from a US ban. OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi are also expected to participate.
The gathering is particularly noteworthy as the last time so many tech executives assembled in Washington was during a 2020 congressional hearing investigating their companies. Currently, many of these companies face ongoing government scrutiny, including antitrust lawsuits, investigations, regulatory challenges, and tariff issues.
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennett recently addressed these executives in a letter, criticizing their apparent attempts to “cozy up to the incoming Trump administration in an effort to avoid scrutiny, limit regulation and buy favor.” In response, Mr. Altman commented on social media: “Funny they never sent me one of these for contributing to Democrats.”
The longevity of this tech-presidential alliance and Trump’s approach to pending issues remain uncertain. Trump, who left his first term relatively isolated from the business community, appears to be embracing his renewed influence, recently posting on social media: “Everybody wants to be my friend!!!”
However, these new relationships have faced criticism from within Trump’s circle. Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, expressed strong opposition to Musk’s involvement during an ABC News interview, calling him a “truly evil guy” and suggesting he should be “run out of here by Inauguration Day.” Bannon interpreted the situation as evidence that “President Trump broke the oligarchs, he broke them and they surrendered.”
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