(L-R) Priscilla Chan, CEO of Meta and Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, and Lauren Sanchez attend the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised the Trump administration for backing Silicon Valley on a call with investors, adding that 2025 will be big for “redefining” the company’s relationships with governments.
“We now have a U.S. administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning and that will defend our values and interests abroad,” Zuckerberg said Wednesday. “I am optimistic about the progress and innovation that this can unlock, so this is going to be a big year.”
Meta on Wednesday also agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump, according to NBC News. Trump sued Meta after the company suspended his Facebook and Instagram accounts following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Zuckerberg and Meta have made several public efforts to smooth over relations with President Donald Trump since his victory in November. The company donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund late last year, weeks after Zuckerberg dined with him privately at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Earlier this month, Zuckerberg announced that Meta would eliminate third-party fact-checking to “restore free expression” to the company’s platforms. He said the fact-checkers had been “too politically biased” and “destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the U.S.”
The move was widely recognized as a nod to Trump, as he and other Republicans have long claimed that Meta’s platforms like Facebook and Instagram censor conservative views. Zuckerberg and Trump have had an especially rocky relationship in the past, as Trump has previously threatened the tech executive with life in prison.
The company also elevated Joel Kaplan, former White House deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush with longstanding ties to the Republican Party, to its chief policy role earlier this month.
Zuckerberg’s public concessions appear to be earning him some good will, as he attended Trump’s inauguration alongside other tech moguls like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos this month.
Shares of Meta were up slightly in extended trading Wednesday after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations on top and bottom lines.
–CNBC’s Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report
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