It's not new for big businesses and wealthy individuals to contribute to a president's inauguration festivities. There are no legal limits on how much they can give, and the incoming president largely determines what kinds of donations to accept and how much.
But Donald Trump's massive fundraising haul for his second swearing-in is unprecedented in the modern era, experts say, and underscores the degree to which powerful corporate interests are now willing to court his favor.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump has raised more than $170 million for the inaugural committee that oversees parades, balls and other events. The final numbers won't be known until 90 days after the Jan. 20 event, when the committee is required under law to disclose the names and amounts of all donations over $200. Trump set the previous record for inaugural fundraising in 2017, at $107 million.
Corporations like Ford, Toyota, Intuit, AT&T and General Motors have chipped in this time around, despite previous vows to rethink donations following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Some of the world’s biggest tech companies are also on the donor list: Amazon, Uber, Google and Meta have each pledged at least $1 million. Amazon will stream the ceremony on Prime Video, the value of which The Associated Press reported as being another $1 million.
Representatives of Bank of America and Goldman Sachs said the banks plan to donate but haven’t landed on a figure. OpenAI’s Sam Altman plans to personally contribute $1 million.
Cryptocurrency companies and investing platforms like Coinbase, Robinhood, Kraken and Ondo Finance Inc. have made $1 million pledges. Ripple plans to donate $5 million in the form of its own digital token.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who's giving $1 million, "believes the inauguration is a great American tradition, and is donating to the inauguration in the spirit of unity," sources close to him told Axios.
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Adam Lichtman, a political historian and presidential election forecaster, framed it differently: "Bribery is legal in the United States through political donations. That's what we're seeing with the donations to the inauguration."
"Clearly, they expect something in return for their money. Whether they get it or not is another question."
What companies want
Companies in the crypto space are hoping for a law that provides a clear governing framework for digital currency, as well as a friendlier watchdog. They're likely to get it — Trump has nominated crypto ally Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that led a crackdown under the Biden administration.
Other corporate donors simply seem eager to stay out of Trump's crosshairs. The president-elect attacked Big Tech throughout much of his first term; after Facebook and Twitter (now X) banned him from their platforms following the Capitol attack, Trump called it "a horrible thing for our country." Last March, he called Facebook "an enemy of the people."
Trump has named a trifecta of Big Tech critics to take top positions in the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s antitrust division. Brendan Carr, formerly the top Republican at the FCC, vowed to “dismantle the censorship cartel” as the agency’s new leader in a post on X. Andrew Ferguson, a former FTC commissioner chosen by Trump to lead the agency, made a similar post: "At the FTC, we will end Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech."
Trump signaled late last year that he wouldn’t rule out antitrust enforcement — a particularly sore spot for Google, which donated $1 million to the inauguration committee on Monday, CNBC reported.
Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos — two of the world's richest men who clashed with Trump in recent years — have traveled to Mar-a-Lago since his reelection and made Trump-friendly adjustments to their businesses.
"Trump is someone who is openly vindictive, who has openly pronounced that he is going to go after his enemies," Lichtman told Salon. "Even supposedly liberal Silicon Valley CEOs don't want to face retribution from Trump."
"A new standard"
President George W. Bush raised $40 million and $42 million for his first and second inauguration, respectively. President Barack Obama banned corporate contributions as he raised $53 million for his first; he collected $43 million and agreed to accept corporate money for his second. AT&T, Chevron and Bank of America were among the donors for each president.
President Joe Biden hauled in just under $62 million for his 2021 swearing-in, with help from health care, aerospace, defense contractors, banks and big tech companies.
But Trump's $107 million inauguration in 2017 “set a new standard for big donations from supportive corporations and individuals, and those who hope to get benefits from government,” Lichtman told Salon.
"It seems like most major corporations are racing to make sure that they're in OK standing with the future president," Michael Koncewicz, a political historian and associate director of New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge, told Salon.
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