Gone are the days of corporate tut-tutting at President-elect Donald Trump’s support for white supremacists, Muslim bans or insurrection attempts. Big business is down to deal this time.
America’s richest businesses, big banks, Silicon Valley, and car manufacturers are hoping to buy goodwill with an incoming administration through massive donations to Trump’s inauguration fund.
When Trump takes the podium in front of the Capitol – the very building his supporters’ desecration of drew C-suite scorn – he will be standing on a stage funded by America’s wealthiest corporations.
At least 11 companies are reversing course, donating to the inaugural fund despite pledges to rethink donations to PACs in the wake of the January 6 attack, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Per the WSJ report, Ford, Intuit, Toyota, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America have all pledged $1 million, reversing previous vows. AT&T, General Motors, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs have similarly given support despite condemnation.
Amazon, Meta, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have also chipped in at $1 million each, along with cryptocurrency group Coinbase. Ripple, another crypto company, reportedly gave $5 million to the inauguration fund in its own coin.
The famously transactional Trump has already made it clear that, despite a pro-business and anti-consumer agenda, he can make it difficult for companies he dislikes.
On the campaign trail, Trump warned Google it could be “shut down” following his allegation that the company was manipulating its algorithmic search results to hurt him. Google, which donated to Trump’s first inauguration and President Joe Biden’s inaugural fund, has yet to pledge support for Trump’s second swearing-in.
Trump has also either threatened or launched lawsuits against CBS News, the Des Moines Register, the New York Times, and Simon & Schuester, each for publishing stories or accounts the president-elect disagreed with.
During his first term, Wall Street sometimes took a stand against Trump’s most divisive or damaging actions. A white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia was an early litmus test: CEOs quit advisory boards and companies condemned the president after he defended demonstrators.
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Throughout his tenure, businesses reveled in tax cuts and deregulation while occasionally issuing statements condemning his actions or promoting internal DEI policies.
But many execs see cooperation with Trump as the easiest path forward this time.
“People just really want to move forward and move on. The election results were very clear,” a representative for one company donating to the inauguration fund told WSJ.
Trump’s previous inauguration raised $107 million, a figure his upcoming appointment ceremony could blow past. Major donors then included Louis DeJoy, later appointed Postmaster General by Trump, Dow Chemical, which pressured Trump to toss damning environmental studies, and Kelcy Warren, a chief investor in the Dakota Access Pipeline, which Trump greenlit as president.
Beyond inauguration financing, some companies are clearing up any legal issues they have with Trump in anticipation of his presidency. Disney-owned ABC News settled earlier this month with Trump in a defamation suit he launched against them, coughing up $15 million and apologizing for George Stephanopoulos' claim that a New York jury found Trump liable for rape.
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