Amazon is the newest large tech firm to donate $1 million to the Trump fund

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Amazon will donate $1 million in money to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, the corporate confirmed Thursday, as main tech firms search to construct relationships with the US president-elect.

Amazon’s choice comes after Meta, the guardian of Fb and Instagram gift in the same way $1 million to the fund. Amazon will even stream Trump’s inauguration on its Prime Video service.

Trump has lengthy accused large tech firms of a litany of abuses, together with censorship of conservative media. After his election victory in November, executives of main know-how firms had been fast to congratulate him, contrasting with their extra cautious reception of his first time period. seek relief pressures round antitrust, transactions and synthetic intelligence.

Amazon Government Chairman and Founder Jeff Bezos additionally plans to go to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort subsequent week, in response to the Wall Avenue Journal, which was first to report the Amazon donation.

Google and Apple CEOs Sundar Pichai and Tim Prepare dinner, respectively, had been fast to congratulate Asset after the elections. Pichai was scheduled to fulfill Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, The Data reported, and Meta Chief Government Mark Zuckerberg dined there with Trump after his election victory.

The strikes come after Elon Musk, the billionaire proprietor of X, donated tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to Trump’s marketing campaign and subsequently established himself as one of many president-elect’s closest allies. Trump requested Musk to steer a bunch inspecting broad reforms to authorities forms.

Apple’s {hardware} enterprise can be probably uncovered to Trump’s sweeping tariff plans, which threat disrupting its important provide chains in China. Throughout Trump’s first time period, Prepare dinner efficiently obtained exclusions for the corporate’s merchandise.

Trump clashed with Amazon throughout his first time period, throughout which he accused the net retail big of placing companies out of enterprise and criticized its tax insurance policies.

In 2018, he additionally ordered a evaluation of the charges charged by the U.S. Postal Service for package deal deliveries, accusing the Postal Service of performing as Amazon’s “supply boy.”

Underneath the Biden administration, Amazon has confronted extra strain, with the U.S. Federal Commerce Fee, led by Lina Khan, and a number of other states submitting a historic monopoly lawsuit in opposition to the corporate final yr .

The FTC can be investigating main cloud service suppliers, together with Amazon, concerning their partnerships within the generative AI area.

After Trump’s first assassination try over the summer season, Bezos spoke to X to reward him for his “large grace and braveness below literal fireplace.”

Bezos, proprietor of the Washington Publish, additionally blocked the newspaper to assist Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, in October. He denied the deal was a part of a quid professional quo between Trump and his rocket firm, Blue Origin, which competes with Musk’s SpaceX.