Trump had said last week that Bezos would visit him at his Florida mansion. The meeting follows Jeff Bezos’ pledge to donate $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund.
Elon Musk was also present
Bezos and Trump were seen dining together at the resort, a viral video shows, with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also present at the table.
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The billionaire is just one of the tech executives hoping to get in Trump’s good graces before inauguration. Bezos had informed Trump’s team that he would donate $1 million to his inaugural fund, according to the Wall Street Journal.
It is pertinent to note that Jeff Bezos’ relationship with Trump has not been smooth over the years but seemed to improve after the tech mogul’s newspaper, the Washington Post, refused to endorse any candidate in the 2024 election, breaking tradition from usually backing Democrats.
During an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York earlier this month, the Amazon Boss revealed that he is “optimistic” about Trump’s second term.
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“I’m actually very optimistic this time around,” Bezos said. “He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. If I can help do that, I’m going to help him.” “We do have too many regulations in this country,” Bezos added.
Trump and his relationship with tech leaders
Donald Trump also said he had warm feelings towards re-establishing ties with business leaders ahead of his second term.
“I want to get ideas from them,” Trump said about his relationship with business leaders after ringing the New York Stock Exchange bell last week after being deemed Time magazine’s “person of the year.”
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“Look, we want them to do well.”
Other tech leaders who have indicated they want to collaborate with Trump include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is also planning on making a $1 million donation, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew who also met with the president-elect this week.
Tech magnate Elon Musk has also been at the center of Trump’s re-election and transition efforts, pushing Republicans on Wednesday to abandon the ballooned spending bill that included many Democrat provisions.
