Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, a spokesperson for the social media giant confirmed to CBS News Wednesday night.

The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The move comes two weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg traveled to Florida and dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

At the time, Trump adviser Stephen Miller told Fox News that Zuckerberg had “made clear that he wants to support the national renewal of America under Trump’s leadership.”

Trump was removed from Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol when it determined that his posts had potentially encouraged the violence that occurred that day.

The company restored his account in early 2023, but with certain “guardrails.” In July, those restrictions were lifted by Meta. 

Trump has a combined 65 million followers on Facebook and Instagram.

In August, Zuckerberg submitted a letter to Congress claiming that the Biden administration in 2021 “repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire.” He called “the government pressure wrong” and said he would push back against any similar efforts in the future.

Silicon Valley has been uneasy about the kind of the treatment it may get from a second Trump administration, and the donation may signal an attempt by Zuckerberg to thaw those tensions.

Trump’s choice of Brendan Carr, a prominent critic of big tech, to lead the Federal Communications Commission has potentially heightened those concerns.

CBS News has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment on the donation.