Donald Trump had dinner with Meta Platforms Inc chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Wednesday.
Zuckerberg met with Trump and members of his team, according to a Meta representative, who added that the session took place at a crucial time for US innovation. The representative didn’t detail what was discussed but added that Zuckerberg wasn’t staying for Thanksgiving.
The Facebook founder and other technology executives have been the target of blistering criticism from Republican lawmakers and commentators who said the major platforms had censored conservative views, an accusation the companies denied.
Zuckerberg and Trump have had a contentious relationship over the years, which became more intense after Facebook banned the then-president in January 2021 in the wake of the attack on the US Capitol.
Trump later suggested he might even try to imprison Zuckerberg over accusations he had interfered in the 2020 election.
Meta reinstated Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in early 2023. After the July attempted assassination on Trump in Pennsylvania, Zuckerberg said in an interview with Bloomberg that "seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Zuckerberg spoke to Trump by telephone this fall, and posted a congratulatory note after he won the election earlier this month.
"We do not comment on reports of private meetings that did or did not occur,” Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, said when asked about the Wednesday meeting. But Stephen Miller, an adviser to the president-elect, confirmed to Fox News that Trump and Zuckerberg had met. – Bloomberg
