Nov. 28 (UPI) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has met with Donald Trump, confirmed by the president-elect’s incoming deputy chief of policy, as the Facebook founder seemingly seek improve frosty relations with the incoming commander-in-chief.
Zuckerberg met Trump on Wednesday at the New York real estate mogul’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Stephen Miller told Fox News on Sunday.
“Mark Zuckerberg, like so many business leaders, understands that President Trump is an agent of change, an agent or prosperity, and so, business leaders, CEOs everywhere, they want to be an element, a supporter, a booster of making our economy prosperous, delivering for American workers and making sure that America is the most powerful, wealthiest, freest nation on the face of the Earth,” Miller said.
“So, we’ll see what comes of that,” he added, stating that Zuckerberg “has his own interests … but he’s made clear that he wants to support the national renewal of America under President Trump’s leadership.”
A Meta representative also confirmed the meeting to The New York Times in a statement, saying that Zuckerberg “was grateful” for the invitation to join Trump for dinner.
“It’s an important time for the future of American innovation,” the representative said, adding that the dinner also presented an opportunity for Zuckerberg to meet with other members of the incoming administration.
Zuckerberg — whose Facebook platform banned Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — has been a target of Trump’s criticism.
Following the ban, Trump described it as “an insult” to the Americans who voted for him in the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, while lamenting that “they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing.”
“Our Country can’t take this abuse anymore,” Trump had said then in a statement.
In response to being banned from Facebook, along with other social media platforms, Trump created his own, Truth Social, to “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech.”
In July, amid his election campaign, Trump threatened that if re-elected, he would throw “election fraudsters” in jail, while calling out Zuckerberg with a derogatory nickname for the Meta CEO.
“If I’m elected President, we will pursue Election Fraudsters at levels never seen before, and they will be sent to prison for long periods of time,” he said. We already know who you are. DON’T DO IT! ZUCKERBUCKS, be careful!
Twitter, which had also banned Trump, reinstated the New York real estate mogul in 2022 after it was bought by Elon Musk, now a close Trump ally.
Google ended its restrictions on Trump’s YouTube account in March 2023.
And Meta lifted its restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in July, days after the former president called him out on Truth Social.